Online shopping – a pandemic lifeline for so many. But is it losing its appeal? With increasing numbers of major brands now investing more in experiential retail, it seems like consumers aren’t just enjoying the novelty of brands that embrace the real world. They’re demanding more of it and seeking it out.
As a full-service agency, here at Designwerk we really embrace the growing importance of spatial design for brands. Increasingly we’re seeing consumers opt for names that impress both on and offline. Senior Spatial Designer Saffron Lord explores how spatial design is being leveraged to enhance customer experience, supercharge engagement and boost profits.
“You don’t have to look far to find some stunning examples of brands that are embracing the physical space in a big way. The ones I’m most drawn to are those that consider the senses in their final execution, using all touchpoints holistically and having a real eye for detail, too. These are the brand retail experiences that really resonate and hit differently. They create an emotional, therefore memorable, connection’, says Saffron.
Eye Spy Visual
Merchandising
Viewing products online just isn’t the same as the real thing. Lighting, colour, shape, object and projection can all work hard in store to create variation and interest in ways that can’t be replicated through an app or website. Brands like Jaquemus, at their own stores and through retail pop-ups, have used physical spaces and structures to captivate customers in the most playful of ways. “Gigantifying” their lines so that the huge replica bags can then be used as display space or act as a prime selfie stop in some of the world’s most illustrious department stores, makes customers feel like Alice through the looking glass. Lost in the world of Jaquemus, which has tangibly been brought to life. What’s more, the product is front and centre: the experience is the product.
Flavour
enhanced shopping
Pairing food and drink to all manner of experiences has been something of a movement lately and retail is no exception. Take VEJA’s recent collaboration with North London’s coolest sommelier, Top Cuvée, for their opening. More than just a complementary brand partnership, the freshly poured natural wine turned the store into a summer-nights’ soirée in a way visuals alone could never achieve. Attendees will forever associate that sparkly taste and party with the wider brand, and importantly, with themselves in the brand. Rituals have also nailed in store epicurean sampling, greeting customers on arrival with their signature herbal teas served in branded cups.
The seductive
sound of music
This feature has stood the test of time, proving to be an aspect of many successful retail brands for decades. Music was so much at the heart of the Big Topshop on Oxford Street that at daily morning meeting, the day’s playlist would be discussed. Abercrombie & Fitch managed to perfectly replicate a college frat party vibe right in store, with thumping techno reverberating between the wood panelled walls and chesterfields. H&M even has its own spotify playlist, The Sound of H&M, updated every Friday.
Do partnership
activation accurately
Collabs are ten a penny. Many lack impact due to poor fit, synergy, or execution. Successful ones, however, delight customers, build loyalty, and drive sales. Take luxury eyewear brand Oliver People’s collaboration with Roger Federer, which activated at the Laver Cup. Federer is the ideal match for the chic, classic OP, looking the part in campaigns and ultimately enhancing the brand. At Laver Cup, a pop-up in the Uber Arena fan zone featured an interactive virtual fitting room, where customers could not only try the product and be captured on film, but on scanning a QR code when leaving, would receive a personalised clip with themselves seamlessly embedded into Federer’s actual OP brand campaign. An immersive brand interaction that was also a powerful digital activation? Doubly memorable.
Escentual marketing
Scent is said to be our most dominant sense given its ability to transport, evoke memory and captivate. Shrewd brands have cottoned on to this. In addition to enhancing the customer experience, the right scent encourages brand awareness and loyalty. The positive association of pleasant smells call a brand back to mind more emotively. Building on the success of their ‘sidewalk tea’ (a mix of lotion and hot water that evaporates to a smell for passersby), Aesop have now taken to lighting their incense at the store front door. So simple yet effective, as you walk by with no intention of going in, the perfumed smoke is sure to charm you, even if you just pop in for a quick look. Smell is a powerful tool to get people feeling, and from that point of feeling they’re open to making connections and memories – and purchases.
Consumers want to be included. They want community; real-world moments that become stories, making the brand more than a product. Experiential design that taps into the five senses is the fastest way to enrich a brand with tactile, emotional and memorable experiences that transcend the need for immediate till-point purchases. Convenient purchases can be made online, only in store can you make memories.