Commentary

Humanizing the retail experience: Experiential shopping lives offline

Photo source: iStock.com

March 23, 2017

By Alex Vera, executive creative director, IDL Worldwide

If you're like most people, you can probably remember a time in your not-so-distant past when you purchased something unexpected online and thought to yourself, "Retail as we know it is dead — I can get anything I want sent to my home, at any time."

For me, that moment happened in 2001, the first time I purchased groceries online. I was terrified that I was wasting my money on what would surely turn out to be mealy apples, bruised tomatoes and a second-rate chicken breast. I was pleasantly surprised, however, by the experience. The produce was fresh, the meat was fantastic, and the delivery guy even stocked my fridge. Why would I ever go to a grocery store again?

Well, fast forward 16 years, and I'm back to buying my groceries at my local store. The convenience and access to product that online retailing made available hasn't gone away; as a matter of fact, it's better and stronger than ever. So what has happened to brick and mortar retail as a result? The fact is, the emergence of online retail gave traditional brick-and-mortar retail a huge gift: the gift of experience.

The souvenir concept

Retail (r)Evolution's David Kepron has described purchase decisions in today's marketplace as "a souvenir for a great experience had," and this has never been truer. In a world in which products and services are ubiquitously available, we buy where we're given the best experience.

There are some products and services we all tend to buy online, whether through Groupon, Amazon or a similar commodity middleman. Think books, electronics and office supplies, to name a few. These purchases have something important in common: They tend to be objects in our lives that aren’t amplified by interaction or experience.

Physical retail, on the other hand, has assumed a more interesting place in consumers' lives. It's the place to explore, to be romanced, to be entertained, to share moments. Physical retail is where smart brands are making authentic connections with their consumers, simply because those compelling experiences cannot be found on a website.

Socially connected, but analog

This emphasis on experiential shopping is augmenting another interesting phenomenon, one that speaks directly to millennial culture and to behaviors brought on by the internet age. Though millennials live inherently digital lives, with one full day out of every week spent online, according to ComScore, they are also part of a socially driven generation. Shopping is now more socially connected than ever, although it requires no app, service or login. Retail experiences that attract and convert consumers are innately inclusive. They tell stories, and they invite interaction. That’s why 81 percent of millennials' dollars are still spent in stores, not online, according to research by NPD Group.

These are the days of sharing, group think and the herd mentality… who knew the 90s-era mall rats, a generation of teens known for simply hanging out in suburban shopping malls, were so far ahead of their time? Physical retail is one of the few places where a consumer can connect socially, without using a device.

Enriching and authentic

Retail has evolved from the days of themed presentations, which rose in popularity in the early 2000s with flagship stores designed solely to build a brand and sell merchandise. It's simply no longer enough to create a story for story's sake and expect consumers to buy in. In today’s marketplace, experiential shopping captures real moments that are authentic and enriching.

The right brand engagement strategy finds that core of a soul that makes these moments relevant and delivers it vulnerably to the world. It takes abstract brand values and transforms them into physical, immersive moments. It requires creating experiences that allow consumers to pull information from the brand, rather than having it pushed to them. It could take the form of a product launch that encourages consumers to test their vertical leap with a new pair of shoes and share it with the world via Twitter. Or it might include an in-store video display that changes depending on the part of the shoe a shopper is examining.

These experiences tell a story in a uniquely ownable voice, and not just the story consumer research tells us shoppers want to hear. It's a distinct shift away from cost-per-square-foot thinking, which does not yield the story consumers come to retail to hear.

This failure to provide an authentic, humanized experience is one reason the center of the grocery store is in decline. Its why big box retail is scrambling to find a voice and why strong, growing brands own more and more of the space in multi-category retail settings.

Today's retail has been humanized. Give your consumers a piece of your story in bold, open, inviting terms, and they'll reward you with their loyalty.