New Retail Experience: how is the world of retail changing?
As part of the special edition of the Homi trade fair, held in Milan from March 11 to 14, the recent changes in consumer behavior were analyzed, with a focus on the shift from shopping to emotional experiences.
In collaboration with Platform Architecture and Design, the discussion began with a presentation by Alessandro Lorenzelli, an expert in business and strategy and founder of Deconstruct, an independent consulting network, who emphasized how the concept of retail today must include many more nuances than in the past.
Following the pandemic, which has truly shaken the entire world and our lives, profoundly changing them from imperceptible shifts to epochal changes in the way we live, humans have rediscovered themselves at the center of everything, with their needs and desires. And it is precisely humans who must be placed at the center of the analysis dedicated to the change in the retail experience. It is no longer the idea of selling that governs a store's strategies, but the impulses, desires, experiences, aspirations, and needs of the individual.
In the words of Lorenzelli: "The pandemic has given meaning to extremes and emphasized the importance of being 'relevant' and meaningful, and in retail this is increasingly perceived in the need to give something to the customer's lifestyle and not just to ensure consumption."
Entering a physical store is no longer a 'simple' act of purchasing a good, but becomes much more: an all-round experience that includes the opportunity to experience emotions, to touch a product, to interact with other people. The store is no longer a place to sell, but is transformed into an experiential platform that overlaps and actively interacts with all other online platforms.
Nowadays, the shopping experience starts both online and offline, offering a cross-channel customer journey: you buy online after seeing what you like in the store and, vice versa, when you see something you like online, you then go to the store to finalize the purchase to check its quality.
This is where the advantage of the physical store comes into play again, that "hands-on" experience that becomes a very important card to play in the contemporary retail world: inside a store, everything is multisensory, the five senses are involved in the shopping experience, and every little detail influences the final purchase. Today, telling the story of the product is not the exclusive task of social media. Storytelling also involves an attractive window display, a well-curated exhibition, and themed corners that sell not only the product but also inspiration.
Contributions from Stefano Cellerino (Fase Modus), Ilaria Marelli, architect, designer, and lecturer at the Politecnico di Milano and NABA, Diego Granese, Italian architect and designer, and Valerio Campi (Obicua) completed the discussion by providing real examples of successful online and offline encounters and of companies that have been able to create experiences within a physical store. The product to be sold, or tasted, leaves room for customer service, which becomes the true protagonist.
