Shopper (or customer) experience remains a key concern of retailers in attracting consumers, extending their visits, and retaining them as returning customers. Retailers develop experiences around themes that will engage shoppers, interest as well as entertain them, and motivate or induce them to make a purchase, hopefully of a collection of items that could be related and complementary. In the past year (2023) it seems that more attention and effort have been dedicated to adding supporting services that ‘envelope’ the shopping activity in the store or shop with respect to the merchandise displayed. Furthermore, the services introduced involve greater use of technology. Yet, interior design and visual merchandising continue to play a crucial role in creating appealing physical places for shopping. Together, the design, merchandising, and supplementary services are crafted to enrich the shopping experiences in-store; this can be expected to endure in 2024.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) already have a strong presence in the retailing industry, including in the bricks-and-mortar scene. Technology-oriented strategy has become an integral part of the retailing strategy. More often the tactics, instruments and methods of technologies add-up rather than being replaced, though those longer in use need continuously to be updated and upgraded. Many retailers, especially the larger ones (e.g., store chains), operate offline and online simultaneously, and they offer additional channels for shoppers to communicate with them while in-store (e.g., website and mobile app) for retrieving more product information or getting updates and special offer deals. Other technologies include self-service checkout posts, beacons for tracking shopper journeys and triggering real-time messages, and even autonomous shops where the entire shopping trip, from tracking product choices to payment, can be completed via the retailer’s app.

Technologies as those mentioned above tend to be utilitarian or more functional for shoppers. That is, they are good mainly for facilitating and smoothing a shopping experience (i.e., greater ease and convenience). The technology may also help consumers in increasing shopping efficiency and effectiveness by saving time, choosing products better-fitting their preferences, and catching on attractive cost-saving deals.

Other strategies or approaches of retailing, however, would be more conducive for creating entertaining, enjoyable, exciting or immersive shopping experiences, that is, enhancing the emotional aspects of shopping:

• One approach is to give shoppers the space and opportunity to ‘try-and-play’ with products in the store — this approach seems to have receded lately and did not progress much beyond gadgets and electronic devices. It seems to be very much category-based. Trying clothing items and shoes before buying is decades old. Allowing shoppers first-hand experience could be extended to products from toys and games to working equipment for repairs at home, cosmetics, and kitchenware tools and equipment.
• Certainly, technological devices can be developed and deployed for delivering more engaging, intriguing or enjoyable experiences, while also helping in making better choices; consider, for example, table-size interactive screen displays whose interface guides a shopper through a purchase decision process and includes also visual simulations (e.g., fashion, working & repair equipment, home design), or virtual fitting (dressing) rooms. Still, human interactions with staff, such as for consultation, remain highly appreciated by many shoppers, and hence opportunities for human assistance by skilled personnel should be sustained.
• Interior design and visual merchandising stay as core assets of stores and shops. While styles are replaced with time, the creativity, craftmanship, and execution remain essential for producing appealing and pleasant settings and atmospherics in physical stores. Design may relate to colours of floors and walls, fixtures and furniture, lighting, and perhaps screens displaying thematic ‘feature’ videos for promotion as well as inspiration.

In 2023 that just ended there were some interesting developments that may foretell directions for progress this year, 2024. Two phenomena, that are partially connected and overlapping, have strengthened and expanded in the past year: resale (secondhand) and marketplace commerce [Retail:Design- 1]. Resale refers to offerings available to consumers for buying secondhand products (e.g., clothing, books, equipment, furniture). Originally, this type of trade is more characteristic between consumers (e.g., on a platform such as eBay). But with time more persistent consumers-traders are turning into small businesses. More recently, established retailers (e.g., clothing) have been entering this field, offering secondhand merchandise in a special resale section, next to their customary sales of new merchandise (online as well as offline). The increase in demand for secondhand goods seems to reflect harder economic times in developed countries (e.g., rising inflation and costs of living). Investors raised some doubt, however, about the profitability of this activity, and thereby called for restraining it.

Marketplace commerce involves mostly small and medium businesses who engage in selling goods, some offering their self-made goods. It has been called also social commerce (reflecting commerce between members of a community) and direct-to-consumer (D2C) commerce by sellers or vendors. For saving operating costs, they usually trade through online commerce platforms (e.g., hosted by Amazon). Lately a greater involvement of China-origin platforms is evident, said to threaten Western-based commerce platforms [1, also see 2 for more background]. The platform Etsy is unique in its specialisation in handcraft and artistic items created by the small independent sellers, yet also in selling of vintage items (a sort of secondhand resale but of special nostalgic value). It is more popular to report nowadays on online platforms of marketplace commerce, but this kind of commerce continues to take place in physical marketplace sites, such as open air, pavilion or arcade markets, in many cities as well as smaller towns, particularly across Europe (mainly on weekends and during festivities).

Other noteworthy developments suggested by Retail:Design include increased application of contextual media & advertising and response measurement; enhanced accessibility options (for the disabled); and not least the increased utilisation of generative AI capabilities [1]. Contextual content means more personalised targeting, time & location adapted offers. Generative AI technology, that seems to prosper since the introduction of ChatGPT (late 2022), is relied upon to enhance efficiency and speed in creating content (text & images) in large volumes (the accuracy of content is still debated).

Retailers take initiatives to increase the attractiveness of their stores to shoppers by adding services in support of their merchandise. The fashion retailer H&M, for example, chose to increase personalisation by launching a text-to-image tool that allows customers to describe verbally their ideas for a preferred design of garment, which is then transformed by an AI algorithm into visual artwork. If approved by the customer, it will be printed on a chosen item from a dedicated fashion range of H&M. The motivation for creating this tool, according to the retailer, is to let consumers express themselves, personlise their own clothing with an easy-to-use service tool. At the department store retailer John Lewis, they added ‘enveloping’ services for shoppers in-store, including styling appointments, beauty services, and nursery consultations. These initiatives were taken as part of the retailer’s plan to enhance tech-enabled customer experiences. Further initiatives are reportedly in line (e.g., augmented reality services, AI customer service bot), aimed at improving customers’ omnichannel shopping experiences. [Retail Week- 3]

Evidently, the retail industry is making greater reference to AI technologies for aiding in their efforts to improve the experiences of their customers, particularly notable is the use of Generative AI tools. The utilisation of AI is done on different levels, in the background of operations, hidden from customers, and in services directly facing customers, as explained by Robert Fletcher [Retail Focus- 4]. In ‘backroom’ applications of AI, they are intended, for instance, to streamline operations (e.g., optimise on-time inventory ordering), improve efficiency (e.g., planning logistics, restocking shelves), as well as in employing customer data to better understand preferences and behaviours. Subsequently, the customer knwoledge gained can aid to update merchandising and to create personalised offerings & promotions.

In attending to customers more explicitly, AI methods and tools are applied with aim to facilitate their shopping journeys: helping customers access with greater ease the assistance they need (human), products and accompanying services. Fletcher brings important advice from Jo Causon (Institue of Customer Service, UK), that retailers should find a right blend between human and technology and be transparent about the use of shopper data and AI. 

• Fletcher [4] gives an interesting example from practice on how to enhance experience for shoppers in-store, powered by data and AI. First, it involves “automatically monitor demographics of shoppers, combine this information with buying preferences and additional information on weather or local events”. Second, proceed to “instantly personalise advertising on displays in the store” (Panasonic Connect Europe in a project with ADEAL Systems). Specifically, it is suggested for the latter that with the use of generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT), advertising messages can be composed and ads designed automatically based on the former information for display on screen in the store. It is noted, however, that information utilised is not personal (i.e., individual shoppers are not identified) but aggregated at the segment level (e.g., demographics, preferences).

Trends in design of stores and shops and visual merchandising seem to continue mainly from recent years. Let us focus here on a particular aspect of interior design that apparently does not receive enough attention: lighting. Firstly, we may note that in the last few years stores and shops look much brighter. Darker walls painted with striking (saturated) colours are far less frequently observed in shops or stores. Walls are more often painted with bright colours, plainly white or close (e.g., light grey or beige). (See, for example, the change in design of the shops of Swarovski from deep red & blue to white.) The brightness is often enhanced by widely spread light (at Swarovski the shops look sparkling). What is more than occasionally missing is concrete and salient focus in lighting on areas of interest.

From general observation, there are shops and stores that seem to spread light across the floor and space without attempt to focus lighting on any particular location; others appear to install groups of spotlight lamps but “throw” the light in all directions so any intended focus (e.g., on a walled-fixture display) is practically lost to the shopper’s eye. The alternative is to effectively focus light on selected locations, whether they are merchandise displays next to walls and across the area or the pathways between them. Areas in the store would be differentially lit, and thus emphasise with brighter light the attention-deserving locations; this kind of lighting could particularly enhance aspects of visual merchandising, such as its colours and arrangements.

Lee Cullumbine [Retail Focus- 5] argues in favour of focusing as “an essential part of retail lighting”. Highlight areas of interest in the store with focused lighthing can be applied to attract attention, emphasise, and facilitate viewing of merchandise — hence suggesting key advantages of focused lighting for the retailer marketing its merchandise. Different forms of spotlights can be used in combination with LED ‘stripes’, chandeliers, and other lighting fixtures. A right arrangement of lighting features combines ambience with focus on targeted locations. Furthermore, focusing light may serve to illuminate product displays or guide shoppers through pathways.

• Cullumbine refers to seven key reasons for focusing light, as highlighted by Spotlights (a retail lighting service firm): conveying brand image (or theme) and ambience; enforcement of colour; highlighting products and improving visibility; sustainability & reducing energy costs; guiding traffic flow; and minimising light pollution. The most critical reason to emphasise might be creating visual interest, which entails to draw attention, add depth, dimension and spatial definition, and enhance the overall aesthetics.

The retail industry is moving ahead, in the physical (bricks-and-mortar) and virtual (online, digital) scenes, and quite often they are connected, even to the extent of being intertwined. Advanced technologies play a dominant role in retailing programmes and activities these days, with special place devoted to AI-enabled methods and tools. Much of the retailing and shopping activity still revolves around stores and shops, working out to improve the shopper (or customer) experience in them. Hence, attention and resources are needed as ever to be dedicated to interior design, front window displays and visual merchandising. There is plenty to do, and anticipate for, in all these areas in the new year 2024.

Ron Ventura, Ph.D. (Marketing)

Notes:

[1] “7 Stories that Shaped 2023 — and What They Foretell for 2024“, Retail:Design by Retail Touchpoints. 21 December 2023.

[2] “Why Marketplaces Need to Be Part of any Ecommerce Strategy“, Retail:Design by Retail Touchpoints, February 2022

[3] “Discover the Digital Strategies of John Lewis, H&M and Gousto at Retail Week’s Digital Summit” (expected February 2024), Retail Week (UK), 18 December 2023.

[4] “Analysing the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Retail“, Robert Fletcher, Retail Focus (UK), 3 December 2023.

[5] “Why Focusing Is an Essential Part of Retail Lighting”, Lee Cullumbine, Retail Focus (UK), 20 October 2023,