Marketing

Why your brand is your in-store experience

Creating a brand that customers recognize and trust is key for retailers.

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July 25, 2023 by Bobby Marhamat — CEO, Raydiant

Creating a brand that customers recognize and trust is key for business leaders. So is creating great in-store experiences for your customers. But the two go hand-in-hand in ways that business leaders may not consider. In fact, only 28% of leaders ensure that their brand strategy feeds into their experience strategy.

In a recent interview I conducted with Jonathan Muir, Director of Retail Activation at adidas, he explained that when he visits stores, he's looking at "how a consumer in Fifth Avenue in New York or consumer in London and Oxford Street is perceiving the brand. When they walk in the door, what are they seeing? What are they looking at? What are they feeling? How are they interpreting the campaigns that we're launching?"

In other words, the experiences you provide in your brick-and-mortar location form the ideas your customers have about your brand as a whole. What they experience when they step foot into your retail location should tell them everything they need to know about the brand — even if they've never heard of your before.

The experiences that you create for your customers are your brand, and your brand is the experience you create for your customers — and experiences matter today more than ever. Why are brand-driven experiences so important, and how can you create engaging, brand-driven experiences for your customers to keep them coming back?

The elements of branding

Why do companies build brands? To become recognizable to their customers. To build a good reputation and trust — and 95% of customers are more likely to be loyal to a company they trust. To gather customers of similar beliefs and interests together. To reflect the company's values, mission, or identity. To retain customers who are willing to pay more — and customers who are fully emotionally connected to a brand are 52% more valuable. To drive retention, revenue, and growth.

But what actually is a brand? It's the combination of any elements or attributes that contribute to how a customer perceives you. Your brand is your logo, your products, your style guide and how you communicate, the trust customers have in you, your advertising, your reputation, and the emotions customers have when they think about you.

If a brand is the culmination of all the different attributes of your company, then the experiences you create for your customers in your brick-and-mortar locations is a big part of your brand.

How experiences and branding go hand-in-hand

How can business leaders think more deliberately and intentionally about how their in-location experiences can further their brand? A clear example is Apple and the in-store experiences they've created that are a direct extension of their brand.

Apple has always focused on creating a community that believes in a shared vision, so one of the features of its in-store experience is customer service. Associates are ever-present throughout the store, and will converse with you like a friend as they guide you through your purchase or service appointment, from hello to receipt.

Another way Apple extends its brand into the in-store experience is through its design-forward décor. Walking into an Apple store is like walking into one of its products: sleek, clean, minimalistic, bold accent colors. They've not only created an atmosphere that aligns with the brand, but like how an Apple product is immediately recognizable, so is an Apple store.

Even if a customer had never seen an Apple product before or knew nothing about the company, they would very clearly understand the brand once they stepped foot into a location. And that's the goal: How can customers perceive, learn about, and interpret your brand simply from being in a location?

Create in-store experiences that further your branding

There are many different ways you can use your in-store experiences to further your brand. Ground your in-store experience strategy in the work your organization has already done creating an identity for your brand.

What is your brand's design style? Is it minimalist, busy, bright, neutral? Knowing this will help you create an atmosphere that will mirror the look and feel of your brand. Provide an atmosphere that also reflects your brand in the store layout, displays, lighting, music, and more. Even if you don't have any brick-and-mortar locations, your brand has an atmosphere it creates through its online presence and physical products. Attempt to capture that in person.

Your in-store associates will be a major element of creating a great, brand-driven experience. How they speak to the customers, their demeanor, their body language, their behavior, and even their outfit is an extension of your brand.

What is your brand's communication style? Having a brand that is simple and friendly, blunt and edgy, or technical and nerdy can help you direct how your customer service associates interact with customers, too.

Having the newest technology in your brick-and-mortar is certainly a necessity these days, and can help create frictionless experiences that will keep customers coming back. Evaluate how you would extend your brand through the technology you use in your store. If you're a mom and pop grocery store, you may not roll out a fully automated, AI-driven shopping experience. However, if your brand prides itself on forward thinking and innovation, you would ensure that your in-store tech, including POS system, self-serve kiosks, and even app integration, were the latest and greatest.

Finally, implement ways to carry out brand consistency across locations. Train managers and staff on the components of your brand, including the mission, identity, values, and communication style, to guarantee that everyone is creating an aligned experience for your customers.

Brand-driven experiences for future growth

Creating a great brand and creating great in-store experiences go hand-in-hand, and when customers step into your brick-and-mortar, what they see, feel, and experience should align with how you want them to perceive your brand. Increasing brand awareness, affinity, and trust begins with your in-store customer experiences.