Designing for valuable in-store experiences: what to consider in practice

Abstract

Delivering valuable in-store experiences to customers has become a key concern for brands. However, current retail design practice does not yet adequately integrate this aspect. Prior research has shown that the experiential dimension of the store design is still considered post-concept development when it should be reflected upon prior to this one. The same research has also already shown which key components contribute to designing a valuable in-store experience, namely: brand, customer, offer/service, physical space, and an "unexpected factor" (referring to bringing to customers more than they expect.). However, which specific aspects of these key components should be considered from the view of practice still remains to be clarified. This paper reports on a study conducted to identify, for each component, specific topics to consider at the pre-concept phase (e.g., the analysis) in the design process of a valuable in-store experience for the fashion/ lifestyle sector. For this purpose, a qualitative interdisciplinary research approach combining marketing and retail design academic knowledge with (documented and new) insight from the field of retail design was used to draft a detailed list of topics to consider at this specific stage of the retail design process. Through a prototyping phase including again the view from the field, this list was then verified and complemented.