Try before you buy
Our latest global Pulse survey underlines how essential physical stores are for customers who want to engage directly with products.
The future role of physical stores extends beyond transactions and emphasises the significance of the planning and designing of interactive displays and try-on areas.
Try-on areas
Interactive displays and try-on areas create comfortable spaces where staff can assist with the customer journey.
Canada Goose's "Cold Room" (seen above) in their Boston store is a great example of this. It is an innovative try-on space where customers can test jackets in -27°F conditions, simulating the extreme cold for which they are designed. This experience allows customers to verify product effectiveness and seek further information from staff, thus supporting their decision-making. The Cold Room serves the dual purpose of entertainment and interactive try-on facilities and enhances the in-store experience and strengthens brand engagement.
Uniqlo is also renowned for creating comfortable try-on environments to engage consumers. Uniqlo's ethos, characterised by spacious, well-lit fitting rooms and a customer-centric store layout, is designed to enhance product interactions, and facilitate easy movement, prioritising customer comfort.
Personalised shopping experiences
Technology and its underlying data play a crucial role in delivering personalised shopping experiences in retail, utilising technology to facilitate product display and try-on experiences but without replacing human interactions.
Audi's Virtual Reality Showroom demonstrates VR's transformative impact on the automotive industry. Launched in 2016 and particularly vital during the pandemic, it provides customers with an immersive experience to explore and customise vehicles remotely. Features include virtual test drives and real-time vehicle customisation, offering access to an extensive inventory. This innovation enhances the customer experience and offers convenience while streamlining Audi's operational processes.
Rebecca Minkoff's stores in the US and Asia take this concept further by welcoming customers with smart screens to select beverages and preferred looks, creating a personalised shopping atmosphere. The use of interactive mirrors in dressing rooms that recognise chosen items, coupled with lighting adjustments, enhances the realistic view of products, and fosters a deeper connection between the customer and the brand.
Interactive spaces
Reimagined retail spaces can act as multifunctional areas catering to diverse customer needs, with technology as a cornerstone.
Sook, with its shop locations primarily in London, offers versatile pop-up/event spaces that combine physical and digital retail for brands. Addressing the issue of store closures, it provides dynamic, tech-enhanced spaces for various brands. These spaces enable innovative customer engagement, including virtual try-ons and interactive displays. Retailers who hold events at Sook benefit from comprehensive customer interaction data, which helps brands understand consumer preferences. This approach offers consumers an ever-changing and immersive shopping experience in one space and helps brands adapt to the evolving retail landscape.
CornerShop, created by Capgemini Invent, The Drum, and SharpEnd in Shoreditch, London, is an innovative retail space designed as a live testing environment for brands, retailers, and shoppers. It integrates the latest technologies across various sectors, including food, drink, cosmetics, and fashion. The store is divided into four sections: automated, augmented, purposeful, and personalised, each offering unique digital experiences through AI and AR, facilitating personalised shopping.
This flexible space showcases the future of retail, blending physical and digital shopping while focusing on customer-centric innovation.
Interactive displays and try-on areas have become crucial in physical retail stores.
Technology and data are key assets that retailers should utilise and integrate to keep pace with the increasing volume of online transactions. Avoiding the use of isolated tech implementation is important. Instead, starting with a cohesive, data-driven plan is essential to fully utilise the physical retail space and ensure a sustainable investment.
Emily Lin