What Does "Experiential Retail" Mean For YOU?
Too many are ignoring the significance of "experiential retail" because it sounds overwhelming to them. It doesn't need to be what you think.
The three most common terms you’ve probably hearing in the retail world are:
The Retail Apocalypse (which we don’t believe in!)
The Retail Evolution (which is the more accurate version of the previous term)
Experiential Retail (which is the only way to stay relevant in today’s retail)
The latter is the solution out of the three. This seems to scare a lot of folks, particularly smaller retailers, but it shouldn’t. When we hear “experiential retail” what comes to mind? Digital interactivity, in-store events, extra complimentary services… much larger investments than some are prepared for. Yet, all of these are definitely significant and keep raising the customers’ expectations of retailers everywhere. Instead of feeling overwhelmed at the idea of integrating a new component that you can’t afford, consider what ‘experiential retail’ could mean for YOU.
Step one is to weed out anything interfering from an otherwise positive experience. Too much product stuffed in your space, degrading the integrity of your goods? A store layout that makes it hard to comfortably navigate the space? Uninspiring and messy product presentation, leaving customers unmotivated to shop? Yes, there are many other aspects that would interfere as well, such as poor customer service by the sales floor team, but we are currently speaking from a visual merchandising standpoint. (You can read more about these common "Faux Pas" in this Retail Insider article.) As always, visual merchandising needs to correct all of this to optimize the shopping experience for customers, making it a fun and easy experience. This is nothing new - it has always been within the regular cycle of Visual Merchandising.
The “new” step is to take this experience further and consider how to make it even more amusing and memorable for customers. The options are endless, but again, we need to think about less overwhelming options for our smaller businesses, at least to start with.
Think about your products, and how the customer needs to experience them to really appreciate them and understand their value. What can you do to encourage interactivity and capitalize on educating customers? Is it a testing station? A sampling event? Are you highlighting a special curated section which is always turning over to entice urgency? (Think “pop-up shop” but right inside your store!) Perhaps it is an exclusive product feature. These are all very simple and low-cost solutions to increase the experiential shopping that is mandatory to stay relevant.
The key is to understand that you do not, and should not, allot every inch of space to housing products only. Carve out sections to make room for those experiences. After all, you are not a warehouse. You need your space to actually connect with your customers.