The most overlooked piece of retail magic isn’t the floor plan or the lighting. It’s the humble little sign that explains what you’re looking at. Let’s be honest: much of store design is a private conversation between designers. They obsess over textures, materials, and mood. Shoppers? They’re just trying to find their size and get on with their day.

That’s why you need a sign — a side door into the story behind the store.

A small investment, a few well-chosen words - suddenly the store transforms. You’re no longer just selling products; you’re inviting people into your world. That oak table isn’t just furniture, it’s reclaimed timber from a 19th-century railway station. That textured wall? Volcanic ash from Mount Etna, chosen to reflect the brand’s restless spirit. Who knew? Without context, it’s invisible.

When people understand why something exists, they value it more. They stay longer. Engage deeper. In a world of stores screaming discounts, the smartest brands whisper something interesting with quiet confidence.

Think about it: galleries don’t just hang paintings and hope you ‘get it.’ They offer a note, a clue, a story. The best stores do the same. Enough to intrigue, never enough to bore.

PANGAIA‘s Carnaby St. store gets it right. No jargon, no slogans — just a few thoughtful words stencilled on the wall. It opens up the store concept — for the curious. A soft nudge toward deeper engagement. The real magic? Staff pick up where the signage leaves off. Signs start the story; staff bring it to life.

On‘s Regent St. staircase does it too — turning a dead space into a talking point.

FARM Rio's wall plaque? More gallery than gimmick, elevating wallpaper into storytelling.

That’s the opportunity. Design is only half the conversation. The rest is helping people understand it — especially first-timers. Because unexplained design risks becoming just decoration. And in a world hungry for meaning, that’s a missed opportunity.

You might argue, ‘good design speaks for itself’ true… to a point. But design speaks a language many don’t understand. It hides meaning in rituals and artefacts, many miss. That’s why we guide. We prompt. We open the conversation.

Because when people understand your choices, they understand your values. And when they understand why, they trust you more - and trust builds loyalty.

Physical space is a competitive advantage most brands underuse. It engages the senses, sparks emotional connections, driving brand love and results— from longer dwell times to higher conversion.

A simple sign, done well. costs little but delivers disproportionate impact. The smallest touchpoint, with the biggest return.

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As our attention to sustainability is heightened, our expectations for convenience, especially delivery, are changing. Today, it’s actually ok to wait for things.

As our values shift, we are re-framing what constitutes convenience. Our evaluation isn’t just based on time. More methods of delivery are becoming available, and more players are coming to the market. Drones and Uber are offering vastly different experiences. The critical nature of time will surely rise to importance again, but the way we perceive value in delivery will also expand over the coming years. Speed, method and personalisation of delivery will all play a more significant role in the way we value convenience in the future.

New delivery value factors
Our vocabulary for ‘value’ will increase as the possibilities for delivery continue to expand. There is so much more to it than time. The growing use of drones will see machine-like precision for deliveries. Imagine specifying a delivery down to an exact minute or the exact location to the inch. Perhaps our phone GPS can be used to ensure a package is delivered to us, no matter where we happen to be. As you go about your day, could your package find you wherever you are?

Delivery is a brand experience
We have come to see unboxing a product as part of the brand experience. Apple carefully considers how you open a product box and discover it for the first time. Naturally, the delivery of a product should also be an extension of the brand experience. What can the package come with? Delivery accessories you weren’t expecting are similar to being offered a glass of champagne in a store. Who delivers it - machine or man? As drones become more common, we will see a more human type of delivery interaction as an alternative. Some may miss the days of the neighbourhood milkman who knew your name and stopped for a quick chat. A more local and personalised human experience will become important to many. What knowledge of your product does the delivery person have? Being told of the product benefits or how to set up your purchase as it’s handed to you will elevate the service and extend the brand experience. What’s important is that we have options. Having different options and levels of delivery service will allow customers to customise their experience and brands to differentiate themselves.

Walk-through stores
The drive-through has always been an ultimate expression of modern consumer convenience. Yet, the 2020 pandemic helped us realise that this method of shopping also provides us with security and comfort, as well as saving time. The nature of how we define convenience has expanded. As retail stores always strive for convenience and efficiency, it’s natural that the retail walk-through windows will gain popularity. We have seen the rise of cafés and restaurants transform to offer takeaway windows, often running a leaner and more efficient business, and many types of retail can follow. A walk-through window doesn’t just have to be functional (order or pick-up), it can be consultative. Does service retail always need an enclosed store for all of its services? Banks and post offices often put their staff behind screens inside their stores, surely advice about an account or sending a package can be done from a street-side walk-through window. Perhaps this separation between functions can create a greater focus on inside-store services. If we can assume customers in-store have more time, we provide more comfortable seating and offer a more personal service.

Click-and-collect concierge
Ordering something online is convenient, but sending something back is still a bad experience, not necessarily because of effort but due to disappointment; it’s an anti-climax. Click-and-collect is the happy medium between online and physical retail, but it’s still far too transactional. Click-and-collect is mostly thought of as time-saving, but many customers are utilising it in a different way; they have time and are using it to secure a product in case it sells out, so for them, it’s really ‘click-and-try’. Customers who have pre-ordered are the most likely to purchase and should be given a premium service. The store knows the customer’s size and what they want; they could be shown alternative products or services. If appointments are part of the experience, an area of the store could become curated for that customer, a changing room could be waiting, and the staff could know their name. If these ideas are extended far enough, click-and-collect becomes a part-personalised store by appointment.

Anyone, anytime
Uber's entry into the delivery market has expanded the possibilities for people to earn a quick side buck as ‘couriers’. Anyone can deliver something, and anything can be delivered. Imagine you just want some flour for a cake you’re baking from the local grocer or supermarket. A customer who’s already at the grocery store could get a notification and accept the job of delivering it to you. They could collect what you need and drop it off to you on their way home, collecting rewards or loyalty points, or making a small profit in the process.

The increased time many of us are spending at home has changed the nature of waiting. Our sense of convenience and urgency for deliveries changed, but this broadens the scope of what delivery can be to us. Technology means we could be delivering convenience in ways beyond the parameters of time. It’s likely we’ll expect delivery to follow other retail trends of increased personalisation. Delivery could be more of an experience, and brands will be able to utilise this to control and improve their customer relationships.

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I visited the Samsung store in Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, with my family, temporarily shedding the designer’s mindset to simply be a shopper. Truth is, I can’t fully switch off. Instead, I enlist my kids as undercover agents, little ‘cultural probes,’ as they unwittingly seek out the most engaging experiences in the store.

What struck me was how my kids bypassed all the carefully curated ‘experiential’ displays, with products staged in perfect little household scenes, and made a beeline for the Galaxy Z Flip’s selfie station. There, a wonderfully enthusiastic staff member helped them dress up and take selfies from all sorts of angles. Now, I’ve never been one for dress-up games, but I found myself caught up in the moment, laughing, posing, and pulling faces. For a few minutes, I forgot we were even in a store—which is definitely the hallmark of a truly great retail experience.

The display nailed it, capturing the essence of a high-end photo booth and turning it into something memorable. The real proof of its impact? The photo printout my youngest proudly pinned to our fridge the next morning. That’s when you know a brand experience has hit home—it leaves a mark, even after you’ve walked out the door.

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Today’s consumer shops fluidly between online and offline retail channels throughout their browsing and purchasing journey, typically switching between a physical store, PC and their mobile device.

Today, the expectation is that the transition between these channels is seamless. From the consumer’s perspective, there is no such thing as a ‘channel’ - just a brand, where all channels are interconnected parts of a single retail experience.

The challenge for brands, which often develop and manage retail channels independently, is meeting consumer expectations for a seamless, single-brand experience, whether moving from online to offline or vice versa.

Where are we now?
Early ‘omnichannel’ efforts connected online channels and the physical store through consistent product offer, price point, and tone of voice. More recently, the focus has broadened, and we see technology combined with the physical store to deliver increased convenience (such as viewing the latest in-store offers, checking stock levels or ordering via click-and-collect). As consumer habits, preferences and pain points become more evident, these services have expanded and become more refined. For example, by understanding the customer’s frustration in the process of returning items, retailers are now providing changing rooms in their click-and-collect areas so items can be tried on before they are taken home. We’ve seen brands such as Nike and Adidas recognise that self-service click-and-collect experiences are not always frictionless. They have evolved their in-store pickup services from locker-based to be store-staff-driven in a bid to bring greater convenience and higher levels of service to their customers.

As consumer expectations continue to evolve, brands hoping to deliver a truly seamless ‘omnichannel’ experience must now look beyond transactional moments centred around fulfilment and convenience, and broaden their scope to include discovery and consultation moments.

Combine online and offline to facilitate better in-store discovery and consultation
Whilst there are several approaches retailers can adopt to facilitate better discovery and consultation experiences, one area that remains underutilised and worthwhile exploring is how brands can enable customers to gather and collect the things that interest them, without feeling the need to purchase. This is the ability to create ‘lists’. Far from a new concept, the retail wedding gift registry was first introduced by the New York department store, Marshall Field, in 1924. This has continued into the present day with list services often associated with ‘life event’ purchases, such as new homes, weddings, birthdays and births. However, for most retail brands, there are further opportunities to leverage this concept, enabling them to connect online to in-store and in-store to online.

01. Online to In-store:
How can retailers leverage the physical store to convert online lists into better discovery and consultation moments?
The habit of list-making is well established and goes beyond ‘life event’ purchasing. Amazon enables shoppers to access frequently bought items to populate an online basket; alternatively, a shopper can save items for later; these are both types of lists. Away from Amazon, brands enable customers to ‘list’ their preferences, past purchases, likes and favourites. However, very few retailers have explored how lists created through their online platforms can be leveraged inside their physical stores. Doing this can help brands deliver a more personalised and convenient experience, facilitate better discovery and consultation and ultimately generate more sales. Here we explore how a retailer may look to achieve this.

Help customers identify stores that best suit their needs
By leveraging customers’ predefined online wish lists, purchase history and preferences, brands could communicate which local store best aligns with their needs.

Help customers locate items in-store
After compiling a wish list online, an app could help customers navigate physical stores and locate the items they need with ease.

Introduce staff to the customer (and their preferences)
Using information from a customer’s online wish lists, browsing habits and previous purchases, an app could alert and inform sales staff when an existing customer makes an unscheduled visit to a store. The retailer can then allocate the most appropriate sales staff to look after that customer and offer a personalised consultation.

Curate personalised display areas
Use wish lists created online to create customised appointments. Booked online, a dedicated private service area can be curated with pre-selected products ahead of a store visit. This greatly improves the potential for sales and is at the pinnacle of personalised store experiences.

02. In-store to Online: How can retailers encourage customers to translate in-store discovery into online engagement and purchases?

Retailers should also explore how they can drive shoppers from their physical stores to their online channels. Evidence shows that when brands launch a new physical store location, online sales in the area can increase by up to 110%. There are several technical solutions (QR Codes, NFC etc.) that can immediately introduce a shopper to a brand’s online channel whilst they are in-store to provoke such sales. Using their mobile devices, shoppers can easily scan products that interest them, adding them to an online list.

Whilst scanning items in-store in this way is not yet a fully-formed consumer habit, this ‘showrooming’ approach to physical retail is only going to become more common. Approximately half of electronic goods sales are researched in-store before being bought online. Alongside the demand for greater flexibility and control of their journey, the blurring of boundaries between online and offline channels will cause customers to expect traditionally online functions (like ‘list-making’) to also appear in a brand’s physical store. Here are some ways that retailers could start doing this now:

Enable the creation of in-store product wishlists
As customers discover and select products and services throughout their in-store journey, enable them to add them to a list using their personal devices. This may be as simple as populating an online basket, so that customers can transact online, away from the store. It may also be about creating a ‘save-for-later’ category or a favourites list.

Connect a customer’s physical store transactions to their online history
Combine the customer’s in-store and online purchase history to create a single, digital master list of their product and service preferences.

List-making beyond just products
Use the physical store to introduce initiatives beyond the product and service offer. Enable in-store customers to ‘collect’ the things that interest them most about your brand and its community. These could be collecting things like a brand’s values and the company mission to read about later, such as branded content, community initiatives or rewards campaigns.

Curate online marketing preferences
Use the physical store to bring products and services to life, so that customers can refine and personalise the marketing content the brand sends them.

Bringing ‘showroom retail’ to life
If retail brands are to successfully encourage customers to digitally capture products and services that interest them in-store and also motivate them to continue their journey online, they must first inspire and engage customers through great retail design. For customers to be interested, the store must be interesting.

Retailers must create engagement and demand through moments of unexpected discovery and delight. The physical store design has a significant influence on a customer’s willingness to commit, not just to purchase, but even to simply add an item to their online basket or their wish list. Engagement and demand will be created through clear, emotive storytelling, supported by a provocative use of scale and proportion, colour, materials and finishes, great merchandising, and crucially, a carefully thought-through customer journey.

This is nothing new. These are the fundamentals of great retail design. Combining these with expert staff and the ability to test, try and touch products and services is physical retail’s real superpower. Retailers must not forget to leverage this power if they are to inspire their audience to continue the relationship and purchasing journey online.

Conclusion
There is a great appetite within retail today to deliver moments that connect deeply with the customer, moments that are meaningful and memorable, moments that are ‘experiential’. Inevitably, ‘list-making’ is not the first intervention that comes to mind when looking to innovate. Nonetheless, lists should not be ignored. To create an ‘omni-channel’ that consumers adopt, we need to use small stepping stones to encourage new behaviours. Lists can provide retailers with a simple and recognisable bridge between the online and offline channels, before introducing further, possibly more provocative omnichannel innovations to their audience. Incremental change is fundamental, as we must never forget that innovation is only truly successful when the target audience is ready and willing to adopt it.

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For years, we were told happiness was something you could buy — a better salary, a nicer flat, even a coffee machine that costs more than your first car. But the data tells a different story. The strongest predictor of long-term wellbeing is the quality of our social relationships (OECD, 2023). And loneliness is now so widespread that the WHO classifies it as a public health concern, increasing mortality risk at levels comparable to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day.

Loneliness is rising fastest among young adults and hybrid workers. In the UK, 1 in 4 people aged 18–24 report feeling lonely ‘most of the time’ (ONS, 2023). People don’t need more places to go. They need places where they feel known.

This isn’t just human. It’s commercial.

When people feel they belong, behaviour changes. The International Council of Shopping Centers reports that emotionally connected customers visit 3x more often and stay up to 2x longer. MIT research shows that shared social experience increases habitual return behaviour. And word-of-mouth — still responsible for 20–50% of all purchase decisions — becomes a natural by-product, not one that’s engineered.

This is where physical retail has a unique advantage: presence. Digital channels can deliver convenience, but only physical space creates the conditions for belonging — familiarity, recognition, shared moments. Yet most stores are still designed for transactions, not relationships. And the outcome is predictable: declining footfall, eroding margins, and endless promotions just to stay afloat.

The retailers who will win the next decade are those who design belonging intentionally — spaces where lingering feels normal, staff act as hosts, and a return visit feels like coming back, not starting again.

In a world of infinite choice, belonging is the advantage that can’t be copied.

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In a world where more retail transactions are happening online, many assume physical stores are losing relevance. But the truth is the opposite. Stores are evolving—from points of sale to powerful platforms for trust, faith, and loyalty. Here we explore why the store is no longer a channel—it’s a signal. Using behavioural science, global case studies, and strategic insight, we make the case for why senior retail leaders must invest in store environments as belief-building engines—not just places to move product.

Your Stores Aren’t Selling Products Anymore. They’re Selling Belief.
Imagine telling your CFO that your flagship store isn’t about shifting units—it’s about shifting mindsets. You’d probably be laughed out of the boardroom. And yet, that’s exactly what the best brands are doing. Because your stores — they’re not endpoints, they’re entry points. Not to transactions, but to trust, faith, and loyalty.

As more purchases shift online, it’s tempting to assume the role of physical retail is shrinking. In reality, it’s doing the opposite, and according to McKinsey, 60–70% of consumers still interact with a physical store at some point in their journey—even if the purchase ends online.

What we’re witnessing is not decline, but metamorphosis—from places of purchase to temples of belief.

From Transaction to Transformation
Walk into your favourite store—not to buy, but to belong. That’s the new retail paradigm. When people step through your doors, they’re not just here to shop—they’re here to believe. They believe your brand delivers on its promises. They believe it shares their values. And they believe it’s worth coming back to.

Research backs this up: the Edelman Trust Barometer finds that 59% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand they trust—even if it costs more.

Retail, when done right, builds a bond that’s harder to break than a subscription contract. It’s not just functional—it’s emotional. And like all great relationships, it’s built progressively:

Trust sparks faith.
Faith nurtures loyalty.
Loyalty sustains the brand.

The Three Belief Builders

TRUST: The Comfort of the Known
Buying Levi’s isn’t a risk—it’s reassurance. The stitching, the cut, the cultural cachet. It doesn’t have to shout. Trust is woven in. That’s what your store should feel like: reliable, intentional, quietly confident.

Kantar reports that brands with strong emotional connections grow brand value 3× faster than those without.

FAITH: The Leap of Confidence
Joining the iPhone queue on launch day is irrational. You don’t know exactly what you’re buying—but you believe it’ll be worth it. That kind of commitment isn’t driven by a digital ad. It’s built through consistent, credible, immersive brand experiences. Forrester’s research suggests that emotionally connected customers are twice as valuable as highly satisfied ones.

LOYALTY: The Relationship Dividend
Still lacing up your Nikes despite cheaper options? That’s loyalty. Not to the shoe—but to the story. Nike isn’t selling sneakers—it’s selling ambition, identity, and community. Your store can do the same—if you treat it as a stage, not a shelf.

Why Physical Still Wins
If you’re not ‘selling’ in-store, what’s the ROI? Here’s the behavioural kicker: humans are hardwired for in-person connection. A University of North Carolina study showed that face-to-face interaction boosts oxytocin—the trust hormone. You can’t trigger that with a TikTok.

Signals That Build Trust, Faith & Loyalty
Costly signals are the visible choices that show customers and competitors what you truly stand for. They require significant investment to create and maintain, making them difficult to fake. More than just expenses, they act as proof points—signals of credibility, creativity, and commitment—that shape how people trust and believe in your brand.

Enter Costly Signalling Theory: the idea that the more something costs to sustain, the more believable the signal. In nature, it’s the peacock’s tail. In retail, it’s your architecture, your materials, your tech, your staff, your space. These are the signals that build belief.

1. Architecture as Assurance
Apple’s Fifth Avenue cube doesn’t just house products—it projects values. Transparency. Innovation. Permanence. Without even entering, you feel the brand’s message of openness, clarity, and innovation. Walking down the spiral staircase feels like entering a tech cathedral—this is more than a store; it’s where the future lives.

2. Luxury That Whispers
The Tiffany flagship in New York feels more like a temple of trust than a store. The luxurious marble floors and crystal chandeliers quietly promise that everything here is built to last. It’s not just about selling jewellery—everything, even the floors and walls, guarantees quality. These luxury interiors don’t merely attract—they seduce. Bain found that 80% of luxury sales are influenced by the in-store experience—even when the transaction ends online.

3. Precision That Preaches
Swarovski in New York feels like a jewel box itself. Everything is made with precision so the jewellery can sparkle. The flawless displays and soft finishes aren’t just for show—they’re a message. Every detail says, “We care.”

4. Space That Breathes
Apple’s Tower Theatre store feels effortless. Spacious, calm, and clear. The simple, uncluttered space builds trust. It’s as if Apple is saying, “Here’s everything. Take your time.”

5. Technology That Delights
HiPanda in Tokyo is a tech playground. Augmented reality, digital displays, and animated avatars. It’s more than novelty—it’s the brand saying, “We know what excites you—and we’re investing in it.

6. Personalisation That Matters
Golden Goose, NYC, turns you from customer to co-creator. Pick colours, materials, finishes—make the shoes yours. Deloitte found personalised experiences deliver 5–8 fold ROI and increase conversion by over 10%.

7. Sustainability That Connects
Ecoalf in Madrid sells footwear and fashion made from ocean plastic. Transparent about materials. Open about mission. According to First Insight, 73% of Gen Z will pay more for sustainable brands.

8. Heritage That Anchors
Samsung Galaxy Store, Tokyo blends past and future. It’s part museum, part manifesto. Each product is part of a journey. History signals reliability. Longevity is its own kind of innovation.

9. Uniforms That Signal Service
Harrods in London. Impeccable. Recognisable. Trustworthy. Crafted uniforms aren’t just for show. They communicate service and pride. During a temporary takeover, the doormen stepped into tailored Burberry—and for a moment, heritage spoke to heritage, each brand amplifying the other’s values.

10. Entertainment That Engages
Nike, NYC. A digital basketball court that tracks your shots. The store becomes a stage. PwC says 43% of consumers visit stores for entertainment and experience.

11. Consistency That Reassures
Aesop stores worldwide blend local culture with global familiarity. The design shifts, but the feeling stays the same. Consistency builds comfort. Comfort builds trust.


The Mindset Shift That Matters
Convincing execs to invest in stores that don’t ’sell’ is tough. Because we’re asking the wrong question. It’s not about sales per square foot. It’s about trust per square foot. Trust compounds. Trust retains. Trust justifies a premium.

Change the Metrics. Change the Game.
Shifting 10% of your marketing budget to physical retail may sound radical. It’s not. It’s rational. But you’re not just playing the game smarter, you’re changing the rules entirely. You’re not just spending. You’re signalling. And those signals become belief. Belief becomes loyalty. Loyalty builds brands.

The Leadership Leap
If you’re a senior retail leader, now’s the moment to act. Stop treating your store as a sales channel. Start using it as a brand belief system. Measure its ability to spark connection, not just conversion. Build retail environments that reflect what your brand stands for, not just what it sells. By doing this, you’ll build an enduring brand that stands for something greater.
Because in the end, the store that earns belief will always outperform the store that just pushes product. The future isn’t about transactions. It’s about trust. And trust lives in-store.

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Whether through written words, spoken phrases, or a store's design language, how we communicate shapes the customer experience. It’s like orchestrating a symphony where every element, from the sheen of the materials to the flow of the layout, right down to the navigational signs and packaging, must play in perfect harmony, especially when the goal is to be both accessible and inclusive. But this is no small feat—it’s a delicate balancing act, with various stakeholders each trying to ensure their part of the experience hits the right note.

This idea struck me during a recent trip to Bali, where I found myself enjoying a cup of Luwak coffee—brewed from beans that have passed through a civet cat, no less. In Bali, I noticed something refreshingly simple: while we in the West often complicate things to stand out, the locals kept it straightforward. ‘Drink this ginseng coffee to relieve stress and improve memory,’ or, ‘Try this coconut coffee to reduce hunger and boost alertness.’ There was an appealing directness to it—no need for elaborate descriptions or obscure flavour notes.

Back home, it’s a different story. Our coffee and wine often come wrapped in a language that’s more about sophistication than simplicity, with descriptions so abstract they might leave even a seasoned barista puzzled. ‘Hints of elderflower, a touch of caramel, a finish reminiscent of apricots.’ It’s all very poetic, but how many of us really taste those notes? For the average drinker, this kind of language can feel more alienating than engaging, creating a sense of exclusivity that might actually be off-putting.

Have we taken branded communication too far? When even ordering a simple coffee feels like navigating a linguistic minefield. At Starbucks, the universally understood ‘small, medium, large’ has been needlessly rebranded as Tall, Grande, and Venti. Is this differentiation for the sake of confusion, is it a charming, delightful bit of brand theatre or a maddening bit of branding that turns a basic request into an unnecessary challenge?

As retailers reimagine their physical spaces to be more inclusive, it’s not just the architecture that demands our attention. The language we use—whether subtly embedded in the design materials or boldly emblazoned on packaging must align to this vision. After all, a truly inclusive experience isn’t just about accommodating different needs physically; it’s about making sure everyone, from the connoisseur to the casual drinker, feels welcomed and understood. Sometimes, the simplest language, both in words and design, can be the most powerful.

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When you put engaged and inspirational store staff into a thoughtfully designed store, this is where the real magic can happen; this is where brands can stand out.

All too often, the dialogue surrounding experiential retail focuses almost exclusively on customer experiences. Of course, this is of huge importance to the long-term success of any retail format, but when understanding a retail experience, we must look beyond the customer.

For a retail format to be a real success, it must not only work for the customer, it must also work for the business, the brand, and crucially, it must work for the staff.

So why is the staff experience so crucial?
Retail staff represent one of the key foundations of any great retail experience, and they are a key differentiator for brick-and-mortar retail. Without a healthy staff experience, the business, the brand and the customer will all suffer.

The importance of staff to the business
We know that every business is only as good as its people; retail is no different. Without even accounting for training and benefits costs, staff typically represent a retailer’s second largest expense (behind property-related costs). Therefore, it’s crucial that this key business component is working effectively. Businesses that support their staff reap the rewards. A recent Gallup poll reported that highly engaged teams achieve 23% greater profitability. They also realise an 81% reduction in absenteeism, up to 43% reduction in staff turnover and a 66% improvement in wellbeing [1]. It is not surprising to learn that studies show that happy, healthy staff are more productive, and now more than ever, the physical and mental wellbeing of your staff is a prime consideration.

The Pandemic has changed the population’s attitude toward staff, and consumers are watching and taking note of how retailers treat their team, and making judgements about those businesses that treat their staff well and those that don’t.

The importance of staff to the brand
Through personality, tone of voice and human interaction, your staff communicate your brand values more clearly than any other channel. Store staff are your brand’s biggest advocates, and over 90% of customers trust brand advocates more than any other advertising channel. Highly engaged and motivated staff create long-lasting brand loyalty and trust.

The importance of staff to the customer
The ability for a customer to connect on a human level is possibly the greatest strength of brick-and-mortar retail. The online channel cannot do this, and ironically, the digital age we live in has created huge demand for face-to-face interactions. 71% of customers say that staff have a significant impact on their shopping experience [2], and they are 2.6 times more likely to recommend your brand [3] after interacting with a highly engaged retail employee. Customers want ‘real’ ‘human’ interactions.

The pandemic has created a different level of appreciation for retail staff. We are all more grateful for the challenges and risks taken by staff ‘just’ doing their jobs. This change in attitude is underpinned by a greater sense of empathy that we have towards one another.

It has also reminded us how valuable, rich, and fulfilling human interactions and physical experiences can be. It’s the staff that are key to creating these experiences, and they are the ones to assure customers and give them permission to try, touch and test your products and services.

The challenge retail faces
Nonetheless, despite this importance, the retail industry is not getting staff experiences right. Reports indicate a staff turnover rate of up to 60% in retail compared to typical averages of around 19% [4]. Furthermore, when asked on a scale of 1-5 how satisfied they are with their work, retail staff rate their job lower than those working in hospitality, ride-sharing, delivery and food services [3].

If the success of bricks-and-mortar retail is so reliant on face-to-face interactions between staff and customers, more needs to be done. Retailers need to improve staff loyalty and satisfaction. The industry needs staff to be highly motivated and engaged; it needs Superstars.

What motivates retail staff?
So, where can retail find these ‘mythical’ Superstars? The good news is they already exist… they are already on the payroll. Retailers just need to develop a clearer understanding of what matters most to their staff and build this into their staff experience.

If we consider workplace employees universally, we can organise what matters most into the following five categories:

• The Pay and Benefits that an employee receives.

• The Culture of the business and the type of people that work there.

• The Training and Prospects an employee’s role offers.

• The Purpose and the Impact the role enables an employee to have.

• And finally, a crucial element of an employee experience is their Workspace, and in the case of retail, that workspace is the retail store.

With so much emphasis on what physical retail spaces can do for the customer experience, the relationship between retail staff and the store is rarely considered. All too often, staff are made to feel like guests in their own ‘workspace’ and the focus is always on the customer. Yet, if retailers want to attract and develop ‘Superstar Staff’, they must show them that they care. To achieve this, retailers must now consider the store environment as a workspace that empowers staff, rather than just as a customer-facing commercial space.

The following six insights demonstrate some of the ways in which Quinine has helped retailers use the physical retail store to show their staff that they care, which in turn helps motivate them to perform better.

1- Inspirational spaces inspire people
People’s expectations of the physical workspaces that they occupy have evolved. Retail staff are no different. They also want a workspace that inspires and motivates them. Of course, retailers need to deliver retail spaces that look and feel great for customers, but equally, they must provide their staff with the inspirational workspaces they deserve.

A retailer that invests in the quality of its store design will communicate to staff that they are trusted and that their employers care. The use of colour, materials, and scale to represent the brand reminds staff they are part of something bigger. Digital layers, lighting installations and biophilic elements can all be used to energise the staff and positively impact their wellbeing. These techniques can all result in a workforce that has pride in where they work, has a clear sense of purpose and will ultimately be more productive.

However, retailers must not limit these interventions to the shop floor. Staff are frequently required to spend time in the back-of-house areas too. These are often cramped, unloved and overused spaces. To keep staff motivated and engaged, retailers need to either invest in these spaces or encourage staff to use the front-of-house areas more for their administrative or social activities.

2- Offer your staff choice
One of the most powerful things an employer can do to motivate staff is to facilitate the different ways they like to work.

Let’s consider a traditional service-focused retail space, such as a bank. ING’s flagship space in the Netherlands is regarded as an ‘office’ where staff can host clients. To facilitate this, staff are provided with a variety of workspaces; there are casual spaces, a communal seating area and semi-public and private consultation spaces. Audio-tech brand Sonos is a more product-focused retailer that provides staff with a similar range of spaces. Their concept allowed staff to choose to host customers at traditional product displays, product discovery areas or in immersive zones.

Providing staff with this ability to choose has a huge impact on their day-to-day motivation and engagement.

3- Make sure staff feel comfortable
Retail staff and how they perceive comfort comes in many shapes and sizes. Therefore, retailers must think broadly about the comfort of their staff, whether it be their physical or their emotional comfort.

To perform at their best and remain consistently motivated and engaged, retail staff need a comfortable workspace. Is their working space big enough? Just because store areas meet accessibility codes does not necessarily mean that they provide the optimum working experience. Do you expect your staff to stand throughout their shift? If so, what measures are you taking to ensure their comfort? Alternatively, are your staff required to sit? Do they have the right kind of chair for their age and body type? Crucially, does the store deliver emotional comfort? Does the physical store environment make staff feel safe, or does it make them feel vulnerable?

Through significant events, such as the pandemic and increasing violence towards staff, safety is being redefined. New interventions and protocols need to be put in place to counter levels of risk and anxiety and show staff how much you care.

Retail staff whose workspace causes them discomfort - physical or emotional, will be distracted, unmotivated and disengaged. Retailers must work closely with their staff to understand their needs and show them that they are valued and cared for.

4- Allow staff to personalise
Key to staff’s happiness is the freedom and confidence they are given to be themselves. This is why in retail, one of the most powerful and emotive factors driving the success of the staff experience is the uniform that staff are asked to wear. But allowing retail staff to personalise their uniform is more complicated than in traditional workplaces. Retail is a customer-facing, branded environment where staff’s appetite to personalise must remain ‘on brand’.

To facilitate this, Apple provides just a shirt and a lanyard. So long as staff are wearing these, they can then personalise their look to suit their own unique identity. Adidas is a bit more restrictive. Staff must choose their ‘uniforms’ from either the Originals or Performance ranges. The ‘Performance’ uniform is fixed, but if staff choose the Originals range, they have the freedom to supplement their look with their own clothes.

Freedom to personalise can be delivered in many different ways. It does not have to just be about uniforms. Whether it be the tools that staff use, their tone of voice or the spaces they occupy in-store, those retailers who understand that staff need the freedom to be themselves, and offer them the right support, will ultimately find they have a more loyal and engaged workforce.

5- Create opportunities for staff learning
Retail now demands that staff are experts in their roles. Retailers, therefore, need to devote greater investment and time in their people.

In addition to improving staff inductions and onboarding, more needs to be done to take advantage of the physical retail space to encourage staff learning. As retail experiences integrate more moments that enable customers to learn, retail businesses should leverage these same spaces in-store to educate their staff. Whether it be in the service spaces, private or public, or around product displays, retailers can conduct skills workshops, help staff learn about company processes or train them on the tools they need to fulfil their roles.

Stores that facilitate a culture of learning and development not only encourage staff motivation and engagement but also attract the best talent from within the industry. If you invest in staff learning, you will attract the best performers.

6- Make sure the store works
Whilst all the points above are about the space working well, there are some basics that continue to be missed. Retail staff are desperate to do a great job, but without the basics in place, their enthusiasm quickly dwindles.

Every retailer will have their own unique set of ‘basics’ that they need to deliver. Simple factors like the provision of discrete litter bins on the shop floor, which are so often overlooked, as are the time-consuming maintenance and specialist cleaning techniques required for some store fixtures and the new levels of hygiene. These are a prerequisite in today’s stores. These factors must be considered when designing retail concepts, so they do not hinder the staff’s ability to look after the store. A store that makes it easy for staff to comply with merchandising standards, adjust and maintain product displays and easily change messaging, all subtly contribute to job satisfaction.

When retailers deliver a store with staff in mind, it shows real commitment to making sure the whole store works. Investing in these basics demonstrates a great understanding of the efforts of those who work in the store. This consideration has a huge impact on staff’s loyalty and day-to-day engagement.

There remains much speculation about the future of brick-and-mortar retail and what it might look like in 5-10 years. What is clear is that central to any future retail success stories will be an exceptional group of motivated and engaged staff.

We know that many factors influence staff motivation, but there is little doubt that the impact the physical retail store has upon their day-to-day working life is significant.

The six insights above are not exclusive. There are many ways to make the physical store a better workspace, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. If retailers focus on showing their staff that they care and understand what is most important, great staff experiences will emerge. Deliver a great Staff Experience, and you will ultimately amplify your customers’ experience too.

Sources
1 https://www.gallup.com/workplace/285674/improve-employee-engagement-workplace.aspx#ite-285782
2 InMoment Retail Trends Report
3 https://www.bain.com/insights/now-hiring-investing-in-retailers-most-important-asset/
4 https://www.dailypay.com/blog/employee-turnover-rates-in-retail/

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I was travelling on London’s Tube the other day when it struck me: I didn’t actually notice the design of the Underground map at all. It simply worked — clear, confident, and communicative. And that’s the point.

Harry Beck’s Underground map is a masterpiece of invisibility. Before him, designers tried to make it geographically accurate — a squiggly mess that mirrored the city above. It was precise, but utterly impractical.

Beck did something radical: he stopped telling the truth and started telling what mattered. He straightened the lines, spaced the stations evenly, and ignored geography altogether. And it worked — brilliantly. Because the real question wasn’t “How do I represent London accurately?” but “How do I help people get from A to B without losing their mind?”

That’s the paradox of good design: you only notice it when it’s bad.
Bad design shouts. It demands attention and energy.
Good design quietly removes friction until it disappears.

Think of it like manners. Bad design is the guest who won’t stop talking about himself. Good design is the one who quietly tops up your glass.

Not every brand has the confidence to disappear. But the ones that do earn something far more powerful than attention — they earn trust.

Good design doesn’t shout. Like the Tube map, it earns devotion by quietly doing its job well.

What’s a piece of design you love precisely because it disappears?

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The problem with stores? It’s not that we have too many, it’s that too many do the same job.

Every year, retailers waste millions on store formats that fail, not because the strategy was wrong, but because it was untested. The problem isn’t vision. It’s execution. Somewhere between the boardroom and the shop floor, strategy dies quietly, costing morale, missed targets, wasted CAPEX, and broken customer experiences.

Physical retail isn’t dying, but drowning in sameness. In 2025, the problem won’t be too many stores—it’ll be too many stores doing the same job. This piece explores why designing for function, not format, is the new imperative, and how the most effective estates work as purposeful portfolios. Success is no longer just about sales per square foot, it’s also about presence, loyalty and adaptability. Because in a world where customers constantly evolve, the best stores do too.

What Is the Role of the Physical Retail Store in 2025?
There is no single answer. The role of the store in 2025 isn’t fixed. It’s not one-size-fits-all, in fact, it’s one-size-fits-no one.

In a world where customers, channels and expectations are in constant motion, static thinking is a liability. Yet we still talk about stores in binary terms: brand theatre or fulfilment hub, experience centre or sales machine. The truth is, our stores need to be all of those things—some of the time.

The key is knowing which store does what, for whom, and when. We’re shifting from standard formats to purposeful functions. From uniformity across the estate to utility tailored to context. The future isn’t about matching stores—it’s about meaningful ones.

Not every store must look the same, but every store must serve a clear purpose. Some drive visibility in high-traffic areas. Others deliver accessibility, conversion, or community connection. Customers stay loyal to brands that show up consistently, not just those with good products. That’s why being physically present matters just as much as what you sell.

A store’s role is shaped by context—demographics, channel mix, competition, data, the neighbourhood pulse... And because that context changes, so must the store.

It’s time to design for adaptability, not permanence.
The biggest trap in retail is creating permanent solutions for fluid realities. Expectations shift. Competitors move in. Tech evolves. The store that makes sense today might need rethinking in 12 months. That’s not a flaw—it’s a feature of a modern retail estate.

We need ecosystems, not monoliths. The future isn’t built on uniformity, it’s shaped by a portfolio of distinct store types—each with clear purpose, each designed to evolve with its context. No one store carries the full weight. Together, they deliver the full brand promise.

We’re rethinking what success means.
It’s the right store in the right place doing the right job. That won’t always mean the highest sales per square foot. Sometimes the return is cultural, emotional, or brand-led. The most valuable stores to the business might not sell the most, but they shift how people see the brand. Not every store can or should do everything. So we ask: What role does this store play in the journey? What experience are we creating? And how will it evolve?

In 2025 and beyond, the most successful retailers won’t have the most stores—but the most intentional ones. It’s not about formats—it’s about futures. And how we adapt, design and align around them. The store isn’t static. And neither is its value.

Rethinking Store Purpose – A Thought Experiment
Customer behaviour, technology and urban life evolve faster than store formats. It’s easy to end up managing what was, instead of designing what could be. To help shift your mindset, consider this exercise. Strip it all back. Forget the legacy estate. Forget leases, formats and sunk costs. Think of your retail estate as if it were a new town under development, with each phase of growth demanding a different kind of presence. Imagine that a new town is being built over the next decade. There’s land and potential, but no high streets, no footfall patterns, no brand presence. You decide what kind of store to create, where to go, when to show up, and why it matters.

Phase One – Arrival Without Infrastructure
The town is just breaking ground. A few new homes. A handful of early movers. Your job is to spark trust and begin the relationship. The store is a flexible-format brand outpost—pop-up, modular or mobile. It sparks curiosity, starts conversations and plants a flag. Its purpose is to create early brand salience. To act as a magnet, not a megaphone. It offers useful, memorable, low-friction experiences. It doesn’t need to sell much—it needs to listen closely and learn fast.

Phase Two – The Town Takes Shape
In years two to four, the town develops its own rhythm. It’s no longer an outpost—it’s a place people move to and build habits around. Roads connect. The school run begins. Routine sets in.

Your role isn’t to shout louder, it’s to matter more. To become part of the weekly rhythm. To be the place people turn to, not just when they need something, but because it’s part of their routine and habits. The original store becomes a service hub, a local fixer helping people get things working. A second opens where footfall flows faster—a retail turbine converting interest into action. A third appears in a leisure zone, focused on experience over utility. Less market stall, more brand theatre.

Each store finds its rhythm. Some fit the weekday dash, others the weekend wander. The best do both—useful and memorable by design. Not everyone needs the red carpet—but someone does. So you design for that. Not to exclude, but to serve better. When people feel seen, they stay. You’re no longer a novelty. You’re part of the neighbourhood.

Phase Three – A Thriving, Competitive Ecosystem
By years five to ten, the town is thriving. Pavements are busy. Other brands have moved in. Customers have generally made their choices. Your brand is familiar. Recognised. Maybe even liked. However, that’s not the same as being chosen again and again. By now, the goal isn’t to be noticed—it’s to be missed when absent. Now the estate behaves less like a chain and more like an orchestra. Each store plays a role and together they create something greater than the sum of their fixtures.

The Flagship is your lead violin, bold and expressive. The Service Hub keeps time. The Community Microstore hums in the background, local and habitual. The Dark Store works backstage—fast, efficient and quietly brilliant.

At this stage, you’re not chasing eyeballs—you’re holding hearts. Loyalty isn’t bought with points but earned through presence, usefulness and small moments of delight. Retail and digital move in sync. The store drives the app and the app drives the store—a loop, not a tug of war. Through it all, your role is simple. Be the constant in a customer’s changing world. Reliable but never predictable. Known but never stale. Always there—until it would be unthinkable not to be.

Designing for Evolution Not Erosion
Store purpose isn’t fixed. It’s shaped by context. Like a smart city, your estate should listen, learn and adapt. Not follow rigid blueprints, but respond to how people live, move and change. What works in year one won’t work in year ten. That’s not poor planning—it means your system is alive.

Too often, stores are built for launch day and then left to stand the test of time. Trapped in a world that’s already moved on. This approach asks something different. Design for motion, not just for the moment. Think of your estate as a living ecosystem. It sees physical space not as a billboard, but as a strategic lever. It builds a purposeful portfolio that evolves with the people it serves.

Rethink the Estate – Executive Strategy Questions
Bring your leadership team together and pressure-test your estate strategy. Start here:

• If we were launching in a new market today, which store format would we lead with—and why?

• Which stores in our estate are actively building the brand—and which are quietly eroding it?

• Where are we overspending on presence, but underdelivering on purpose?

• Which formats are still fit for function—and which are surviving on sunk cost?

• Where are we designing for today—and where are we frozen in the assumptions of five years ago?

This is not a post-mortem. It’s a readiness check. The goal is not more formats—it’s more future-ready roles.

The Hidden Risk of Standing Still
In a fast-moving market, standing still means falling behind. Brands that cling to fixed formats risk irrelevance—not because the product is wrong, but because the store no longer aligns with how people live, shop or expect to be served.

The impact is real. Underperformance rises. Costs climb. Customer experience falters. Brand perception fragments. Static estates can’t flex, support new models, or integrate emerging tech. And when change finally comes, the cost—financial and cultural—is far higher. Inaction breeds fragility.

Ready to design stores that evolve with your customer?
We help retail leaders build adaptive estates—intentional formats designed for relevance, speed, and long-term value. Let’s shape your next move.

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𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴.
Most brands treat the entrance like an afterthought.
A door. A logo. A list of opening hours.

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.
The outside is part of the inside.
The experience starts before you step through the door.

𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗯 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹.
A promise.
A message that says:
"We get you, you belong here"

A good entrance doesn’t beg.
It doesn’t shout 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘 in 400-point type.
It whispers, “Come in — this is for you.”

It creates intrigue, not noise.
Energy, not clutter.
Purpose, not polish.

You don’t need flashing lights.
You need a reason to step closer.

Because if you can’t win me on the outside,
You’ll never get me on the inside.

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻?

𝟭. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲
I know what it is.
I know who it’s for.
If I have to guess, I’ll keep walking.

𝟮. 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴
It catches the eye without screaming.
It uses light, contrast, movement, and materials to draw me in.
It doesn’t blend in — it stands out with intent.

𝟯. 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁
It speaks to my life — not your product range.
It makes me feel something:
Curious. Welcomed. Understood. Safe.

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In retail, the smartest technology isn’t the loudest. It’s the quietest. It doesn’t interrupt. It doesn’t pressure. It waits — ready to be useful at the right moment.

Take something as simple as a QR code in a window. It’s not a gimmick. It’s an invitation. A low-friction, low-cost touchpoint that transforms how people engage with stores.

On a recent walk down Carnaby Street, we saw it in action. Service brands using QR codes not as decoration, but as a seamless extension of the store experience. Book an appointment. Browse treatments. Watch a product in action — all before stepping inside. No pressure. No barriers. Just a soft nudge to engage on your terms.

That’s not just technology. That’s psychology.

When engagement is optional, it’s inviting. When it’s forced, it’s ignored.

And the numbers back it up:
Last year, retailers increased QR code generation by 88% year-on-year. Research shows that customers who engage across multiple touchpoints spend 15% more per order and have 1.5× higher lifetime value.

This isn’t trend-chasing — it’s experience-building. The best tech doesn’t fight for attention. It hands over control. And in retail, control is currency. Think about it: book an eye test, scan a product guide, follow a brand — instantly, in the moment, without waiting in line. The QR code becomes a soft entry point, a side door, providing a bridge between hesitation and action.

And it works.

Want to go deeper? Link it to product videos, tutorials, TikToks, playlists — not gimmicks, but meaningful brand connections. Unified retail commerce isn’t about adding more screens. It’s about adding more relevance. The smartest stores don’t chase digital bells and whistles — they build effortless overlaps between scroll and store, between browsing and belonging.

Because the best tech doesn’t look like tech. It feels like permission. To explore. To engage. To opt in.

Because when tech is intentional, it performs.

Helping brands choose the right tech, place it with purpose, and design experiences that drive outcomes — not just engagement.

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The Victoria and Albert Museum‘s Storehouse isn’t just a building. It’s a time machine. A warehouse of wonder. Tucked inside London’s Olympic media centre, it’s a secret worth discovering — part archive, part classroom, part temple. A beautiful contradiction, which I enjoyed visiting with my family.

And it’s not just the objects that make it special, it’s the design of the space. The details underfoot, the handrails you touch, a layout that invites you to meander, not rush. Objects aren’t perched on pristine plinths but sit proudly on wooden pallets, albeit elegant ones. It’s a space that whispers, not shouts, adding to the feeling of discovery. Like walking through a treasure trove, where every artefact is less about display, more about memory. Stories not yet told. Rituals waiting to be remembered. The joy is in what you stumble across.

Having studied at the RCA, I’ve always felt a personal thread connecting me to the V&A. As a student, it provided raw material for drawing classes, artefacts that sparked ideas. I’d walk the galleries looking for references, but often found something rarer: a kind of stillness that made the objects feel less like exhibits, more like old friends. It’s more than a museum. More than a collection.

Because here’s the thing — we don’t just use objects. We build relationships with them. We attach meaning. We create rituals. A favourite mug. A worn coat. A stack of records you’d never play on shuffle. These aren’t just things. They’re parts of us.

But somewhere along the way — in our rush to make everything frictionless and optimised — we’ve stripped the soul out of the story. Shopping became scrolling. Ownership became overnight delivery. And just like that, the bond began to fray.

The ritual disappeared. And with it, the connection.

That’s why I’m fascinated by how ‘People, Place, and Things’ intertwine. How the simple act of choosing, holding, and owning — in the right space, with the right story — can build something deeper. Something that lasts.

Stories echo throughout every corridor of the Storehouse. Every object feels like a conversation waiting to happen. It’s not just a place to visit. It’s a place to feel.

And maybe that’s what retail needs to rediscover. Not just faster transactions or smoother checkouts — but spaces that make people feel something. Spaces that invite curiosity, spark conversation, and deepen brand connections.

Because when customers feel connected, they stay longer. return more often and buy with more conviction.

In the battle for loyalty, it’s not convenience that wins — it’s meaning. And the most successful brands of the future won’t just sell products… they’ll curate places people want to be. Not faster. Not cheaper. But richer. More human. More connected.

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In our first article Why Having a Sustainable Strategy is Important for Physical Retail, we identify that establishing and executing a pathway toward sustainability must now be a key focus for every retail business. This article takes a more tactical viewpoint.

Every sustainable development strategy must consider environmental, economic and social sustainability in order to have impact. Yet, for the majority of retail brands, the conversation surrounding sustainable development largely focuses solely on environmental sustainability, and more specifically on the use of materials and supply chain in-store. Not only is this just one small piece of a very big puzzle, it doesn’t take advantage of physical retail’s biggest strength; the ability to use the physical space to raise awareness of a cause, educate people about the issues and inspire individuals to take action. It is through these activities that brands can extend their sustainable strategy with relative ease to have a considerable social impact as well.

Whilst there is no doubt that materials play an important part in the sustainable development conversation, it is when retailers consider sustainability more broadly that they can have the most impact. The following examples represent a broad snapshot of the opportunities retailers have at their disposal. If you are a retailer with physical stores, we hope that with these tactical initiatives, you are able to better influence your teams and the choices made by the wider business.

01. Materials
As a result of all the focus given to the use of sustainable materials in-store, this is one of the areas where we see a lot of progress.

Retailers must consider what materials and fixtures are being used and where they are being sourced from; for example, the use of FSC-certified timber and energy-efficient lighting is becoming more widespread, but brands need to go further.

Retailers also need to understand the impact of materials at the end of the store’s life. Are the materials recyclable or reusable? Brands like Glossier, which largely focuses on pop-up formats, have used ‘living plant’ elements to define store spaces as an alternative to built fixtures.

The above initiatives represent great progress and go some way to addressing a business’s environmental and economic impact. But is there a social impact? The big challenge with sustainable fixture solutions is that, at best, they raise the customers’ awareness of the sustainability conversation only slightly. They do not provide any deeper education, inspire action or encourage customers to change their own habits.

02. Extending product life
Many retailers are helping customers change their habits by encouraging them to come back to their stores, not to buy new products, but to extend the life of their existing products. This is not a new idea; Apple has been offering device support and repairs for years through the AppleCare programme.

But now, we find ourselves in a moment where a culture of repair is emerging in society - partly driven by our desire to produce less waste and also with the link to a sense of hope and a restorative mindset. Many fashion retailers are tapping into this. Enabling customers to get involved in this way, motivating them to take sustainable action for themselves, represents positive social impact.

03. Rental retail
Many of us are familiar with the idea of renting cars through businesses like Zipcar and Lynk & Co, understanding that this is a greener approach to car use than car ownership. The same business model is something that retailers are beginning to adopt, especially in the fashion and furniture markets.

Businesses like Rent the Runway and Hurr rent out high-end fashion to customers who would otherwise not be able to afford them as a one off purchase. H&M owned fashion brand, Arket has set up a children’s clothing subscription service to alleviate the clothing waste resulting from fast-growing kids. Brands like IKEA, John Lewis and Muji have established furniture rental initiatives to support Millennials and Gen-Zers who are less concerned about ownership. Given the latest available figures, which state that £140m worth of clothing and 22 million pieces of furniture are sent to landfill every year in the UK alone, the real benefit is that these initiatives will reduce waste.

Muji’s furniture subscription service responds to the changing work from home culture and the growing demand for returnable furniture. Ikea also offers a rental and spare parts service, with small parts provided at no cost.

A circular economy approach (the practice of designing out waste, keeping products in use for longer and creating a regenerative mindset around resources) enables businesses to take on the long-term responsibility of the products they are introducing to the market. It ensures that the correct ‘end of life’ decisions are made, and waste is kept to a minimum. The added benefit of this approach is that it begins to change the consumer’s mindset, motivating a new type of consumption and raising their awareness of a more sustainable lifestyle.

04. Events and campaigns
Some brands are using in-store events to raise awareness, educate and inspire their customers. A number of IKEA stores host workshops for customers, designed to educate them and help them live a more sustainable life at home. As part of their Home of Tomorrow initiative, they created a space in Szczecin, Poland, that hosted workshops, meetings and open discussions with local authorities and activists to help inspire sustainable habits and activities.

In 2020, UK department store Selfridges took a different approach. They established a movement called ‘Project Earth’ which focused on all aspects of the shopping experience, from product curation (highlighting sustainable fashion brands) to the rental, repair, and a luxury handbag buy-back scheme. The beauty department championed plastic-free products, whilst their restaurants and food halls promoted plant-based and organic foods. In 2024, this initiative evolved into ReSelfridge, and the mission now also includes sustainable packaging and the use of sustainable materials in-store.

05. In-store supply chain
The majority of the environmental impact is in the retail supply chain. If consumer brands aspire to take action and have impact, investigating their supply chain is a great place to start. So how does this affect the physical store? The answer, the retail store can play ‘host’ to the supply chain.

Stores will stock less inventory and offer a more showroom-like experience. CBRE’s ‘Future of Retail 2030’ report identifies the 3D printing of products on-demand as an innovation to look out for. When customers want to make a purchase, their unique and personalised product can be printed for them right there in-store.

Whilst we may need to continue to be patient for in-store 3D printing, the concept of in-store manufacture already exists. Both the fashion and food industries are exploring their own versions of this.

06. Review your property strategy
Choosing the right store location is not straightforward. Retailers must consider a long list of factors, from store size and shape to the catchment area and potential footfall… brand relevance, competition, supply and distribution of product, leasing costs, the list goes on.

Today, we need to add to that list how sustainable the property is. For some retailers there is the belief that targeting new property aligns better with their brand image, or that it provides the blank canvas they desire to deliver the ‘perfect’ environment. But the most sustainable route is to occupy a building that already exists. Even better, occupy a building that needs help; for example a run-down building in need of repair.

07. Store accessibility
Considering how easy it is for people to get to and from a store is part of the sustainability conversation.

Part of the success of the Starbucks Roastery in Shanghai (which has been awarded Platinum LEED certification) is its proximity to public transport links, as Starbucks accounted for the environmental impact of its customers travelling to this site.

We can also look at store accessibility slightly differently. Rather than focusing on how customers come to the store, consider how the store might go to them? By taking a store to the customer, especially in more remote areas, the need for a fixed, traditional brick-and-mortar presence is removed.

If the circumstances are right, and if it makes sense for the brand and their offer, this approach removes the environmental impact associated with opening a new store and also reduces store-associated travel. Rather than inviting thousands of customers to travel many miles to a fixed store, one portable, mobile store can travel a well-planned and environmentally efficient route between locations and communities.

08. Become sustainable by association
If it is to be believed that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with, retailers should look to build partnerships with other businesses taking sustainable action.

Retailers can choose to select properties run only by LEED-certified landlords such as Brookfield Properties in the US. In this way, their business becomes more aware of broader sustainable discussions and, by default, is integrated into a larger ecosystem of sustainable practices. After all, landlords control up to 60% of a retailer’s energy footprint.

Alternatively, a retailer can choose to only partner with brands and manufacturers who have themselves adopted a clear sustainable strategy. There are examples of malls like the Green Pea retail mall in Turin and retailers like B Corp Wolf & Badger, that stocks sustainable and ethically produced products.

09. Fixture design
End-of-life consideration should not just be limited to the materials used, but also in how the store fixtures are designed.

It is critical to understand the upstream and downstream supply chains. At the point when fixtures are no longer needed, they should be easy to disassemble and the material make-up easy to separate so that they can be recycled. With this aspiration, logic suggests the best design is the one that uses the least number of materials.

From the outset, retailers need to be able to brief designers on what the intended longevity of a fixture is, so that an appropriate level of quality can be designed in. A fixture that is needed for 2 years will be designed and manufactured differently from one intended to last for 7 years. Wherever possible, retailers should strive to optimise the use of any built fixture before its end of life. It may be that the life of a store fixture can extend beyond the life of the store itself. Fixtures may be reused in other stores, used as training tools in head offices, or sold on to other retailers.

As we are all too well aware, retail is constantly evolving. New products and services are appearing quicker than ever before, and stores need to be able to adapt to tell these new stories. But the answer to this challenge is not to continually design, develop and manufacture new displays to accommodate these new offers. Retail designers must build in sufficient flexibility and modularity from the outset to accommodate the unexpected and prolong the life of fixtures.


10. Utilities and services
An overhaul of any retailer’s utilities and services can be a big undertaking. Often these are inherited from previous tenants or controlled by landlords and malls. Despite these challenges and barriers, we are seeing significant progress in areas the retailer can control.

Ensuring that LED lighting is installed is a relatively straightforward initiative. LED lights are 75% more energy efficient than an incandescent equivalent and can last 25 times longer. Designers and architects are increasingly leveraging natural light. This not only reduces the demand for artificial light but positively impacts the wellbeing of the people who use the store environment. Increasing numbers of retailers are deploying smart lighting management technologies so that stores are lit to the appropriate levels and lit only when necessary.

Some actions have dual benefits; we are seeing many of the large supermarket chains offering a ‘quieter hour’ where lights are dimmed and checkout noise is lowered, designed for neurodiverse customers, this action inadvertently benefits the environment too.

But this conversation is far bigger than just lighting. Around the world, retailers are looking at a broad range of interventions. Starbucks is using IoT technology and smart metering to get real-time data and monitor its water usage, whilst numerous big businesses like Apple and IKEA are investing in renewable energy for their properties. The scope for operational teams to progress a business’s sustainable development is huge.

The good news is, improving the efficiency of your utilities and services has more than just environmental benefits. Energy savings generally translate into cost savings, too. 90% of retail businesses have highlighted cost saving as the biggest benefit to come out of a review of their estate’s energy usage. Whilst big interventions can mean big cost savings, small changes can also have impact.

Just the tip of the iceberg
This snapshot into how broad the sustainability conversation is, demonstrates the amazing things that are already being done. Interestingly, many of the strategies are familiar, we’re just not used to looking at them through the lens of sustainability. Fixture modularity and store location, as examples, have traditionally been driven by other needs. When we examine sustainability closely, it often leads back to what we have previously labelled, good design and good business practice.

Whilst the majority of these initiatives may demand significant change and investment, it’s important to remember that sustainable development can also be delivered via smaller, less overwhelming initiatives. The key is that every retail brand acknowledges its responsibility to establish a sustainable strategy that is achievable for its business and enables it to make progress now and into the future.

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In our article titled Why Virtue is the New Cool, we identified how consumer values are rapidly evolving. In this article, we consider the importance of having a clear and achievable sustainable strategy and why brands with a physical retail presence are uniquely placed to have a significant impact.

Today, there is a far greater demand from consumers for businesses and brands to support social causes and benefit society; and the expectation to be more sustainable is a fundamental component of this. Despite the cost of living and other pressures of our time, being sustainable is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’; it must now be the foundation every business builds upon.

What is sustainability?
Sustainability can be a difficult concept to define. Whilst it is commonly considered a conversation around the protection of the world’s natural resources, the discipline of sustainability is far broader. It applies to three core areas: environmental, economic and social sustainability. All three of these pillars must be invested in if we are to achieve ‘peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future’ UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Alongside sustainability there is the term ‘Sustainable Development’. This refers to the pathway that leads to the goal of sustainability. Defined by the Brundtland Commission in 1987 as the practice of ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

A collective responsibility: governments, people and also brands
It is in ‘Sustainable Development’ that governments and individuals are all ramping up their commitment. Progressive movements such as the United Nations 2030 initiative for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on climate change, demand that governments and leaders enforce change. Events like COP have produced decisions reflecting both a collective desire for global action and increasingly polarisation of interests. So, policy is not enough on its own. Policy can only have impact if it is followed by action, and increasingly, it is society that must take responsibility, make changes and take action.

On a small-scale level, ‘action’ may be the individual who chooses to shower for less time in the morning, or the household that commits to recycling or using less energy. But large-scale impact can be seen when brands take responsibility and ownership of their own sustainable development. We see fashion brands like Chanel attaching themselves to financial agreements with built-in sustainability clauses. While LVMH executives have a proportion (around 10% in 2024) of their remuneration tied to the group’s CSR performance. Many businesses, like Vodafone and Ikea, are reviewing their supply chain assessment to build in a greater focus on sustainability, and manufacturers are setting ambitious goals in their approaches and material usage. Some companies, like eyewear brand Ace & Tate and LEGO, understanding the challenges of setting an end goal, have revised either their timeline or now seek to become ‘more sustainable’ with singular targets, such as making all packaging sustainable by the end of 2025.

We’re already seeing significant progress, but for every brand doing great things, there are many that need to do more. No matter how big or small, whether it’s an individual or a large global brand, everyone has a role to play, and this, of course, includes brands with a physical retail channel.

The role of physical retail
Retail’s role in society is evolving. Retail is everywhere and engages with consumers through multiple channels and in many different ways.. So, like individuals, retail brands have a responsibility to act.

Consumers increasingly look to brands to educate and deliver cultural influence.. So, as we as individuals make changes, we expect the brands that we associate ourselves with to change as well. In the near future, the majority of consumers will only choose brands that demonstrate sustainable action.

Through their stores, physical retailers are in a powerful position to drive sustainable development. They not only have the opportunity to address their own impact, but are uniquely placed to have significant social impact on the general public as well. Through the face-to-face in-store experiences, brands have the ability to raise the awareness of a cause, educate people about the issues and inspire individuals to take action, in doing so, retailers can help close the ‘say-do’ gap – which according to BCG’s research, up to 80% of consumers say they are concerned about sustainability, while only 7% actually buy sustainable products.

Unfortunately, too many physical retail brands are missing this opportunity. There are retail brands whose sustainability policies are either not established enough, or not established at all. Then there are those that are making great progress in sustainable development (environmental, economic and social), but are not leveraging their physical stores to encourage social change. There are some brands that are using physical stores to talk about their sustainable policies, but are failing to communicate what ‘action’ they are taking. This risks coming across as sustainable signalling or greenwashing, resulting in eco-fatigue. No matter how well-intended, policy is not enough on its own. If the retail industry is to accept its place in society, it must take on the responsibility that comes with that.

To fully seize the opportunities available to them, physical retail brands need to go beyond simply telling sustainable stories. In some cases, sustainable storytelling can be good to raise awareness, but it is when brands use the physical store to involve both staff and customers in dynamic and engaging activities, that people begin to learn and become inspired to change their own habits.

Brands must engage everyone in-store with meaningful sustainable ‘action’; action that the brand has taken and also action that helps their staff and customers reduce their own impact. Enabling people to get involved in this way, motivating them to take sustainable action for themselves, demonstrates social impact. It also creates a different type of connection between customer and brand. No longer is the relationship transactional, but a partnership built upon shared goals and achievements. This is what builds greater brand affection and loyalty amongst consumers.

The potential reach of retail is extraordinary, and using the store as a tool to raise awareness, to educate and to inspire, retailers and brands have the ability to activate a movement throughout society. This is the power of the physical retail space. And it is every brand’s responsibility to leverage its reach to have a positive impact on society.

How are retailers delivering sustainable development?
Whilst it is true that sustainable development of physical retail predominantly focuses on environmental impact, too many retailers believe that their sustainability story is solely about the store environment and the materials they use. Whilst material choice is important, brands and retailers must look at sustainability through a far wider lens. When they fully understand the far-reaching scope of sustainable development, the opportunity to take relevant and meaningful action becomes much broader and therefore, in some way, a little easier.

To help understand some of the many questions a brand must answer, below are five areas of consideration that demonstrate the breadth of sustainable development strategies in physical retail.

01. Store environment
Architectural finishes, store fixture design and materials should all be considered in a brand’s push to become more sustainable. The challenge is to translate this into a meaningful and authentic in-store story. A story that feels relevant to the brand and is able to involve the customer in such a way that it encourages change.

02. Property selection
Retailers must understand how far both their customers and employees need to travel to get to their stores and how easy this is for them. Is the store close to public transport links, or do they need to use private transport? The building typology also makes a difference. Does it already exist, or is it a new build? Is it in a mall, strip mall or high street? Do the landlords have a sustainable agenda? Does local government have plans for 15-minute cities? Once this is understood, retailers must define a plan to alleviate the associated impact.

03. Store operations and facilities
If a brand is able to address big-ticket items such as supply chain, energy consumption, climate control, water usage (…the list goes on), the impact can be huge. But more minor adjustments are also important, even if it’s simply understanding how to reduce waste in-store.

04. Products and services
Brands can use their product assortment and in-store services as vehicles to demonstrate sustainable action. Are the products themselves sustainable? How are they packaged?

In-store services, like refill stations or offering customers repairs and refurbishments, can encourage people to change habits and live more sustainable lives.

05. Brand initiatives
Retail teams need to ‘mine’ their businesses for opportunities. The bigger organisations are often doing great things, but they’re missing the opportunity to leverage the retail channel to tell these sustainability stories and inspire customers.

Focus on the small and the big things
Wherever possible, retailers need to take company-wide, holistic action, introducing both small and big changes, and these must go beyond a review of materials.

This holistic approach is a challenge and can appear overwhelming. It demands investment of both time and money, and it requires the alignment of multiple stakeholders. Most importantly, it demands that an achievable sustainable strategy be put in place. The goal of sustainability will not be achieved with just a single big intervention. The focus must be on sustainable development for the long-term, which comes from the ongoing development of multiple initiatives, both big and small. Pre-defined check-in points along a brand’s journey enable them to monitor their development, identifying what they are doing well and where they need to improve. Brands should also be transparent about their progress and the goals that they are setting. The pathway to becoming more sustainable may be a big undertaking, but despite these challenges, retailers are already proving that it is possible and progress is being made.

Establishing a sustainable strategy needs to be a core focus of every retail business now. These strategies cannot simply be sustainable announcements; they must be authentic and lead to meaningful action. Physical retail stores must be leveraged to raise awareness, educate and inspire customers and staff to make changes and adjust their own habits.

Having a sustainable strategy is important to retailers, not just because they have a responsibility to manage their own environmental and economic impact, but they are uniquely positioned to have a social impact, influencing customers and encouraging global change.

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In today’s constantly evolving retail landscape, do brands have a comprehensive understanding of how their investment in physical retail affects their business’s future performance? Savvy retailers are seeing retail design not as a cost but as a hidden asset that drives brand value, customer engagement, and long-term growth.

So, why should you invest in Physical Retail?
In the labyrinthine corridors of corporate decision-making, it’s astonishing how the simplest of concepts can be lost to the imperfect lens of KPIs, but this is where businesses and senior leaders are. Even in today’s retail landscape, characterised by a blend of digital and physical shopping experiences, with a strong emphasis on ecommerce, omnichannel strategies, and personalised customer engagement, if your KPIs measure physical retail purely as a sales channel, this narrow lens makes it difficult to justify increasing investment in the physical store environment, particularly the intangible aspects of a store fit, even though these often have the greatest impact on consumers perception of a brand.

Imagine a world where investing in your store’s physical environment is akin to spinning straw into gold. This is no fairytale; numerous academic studies provide compelling evidence that the emotional reaction a consumer experiences when visiting a store significantly shapes their perceptions of a brand and, therefore, their ongoing purchasing intentions.

Breaking free from short-term thinking
Yet, despite all the persuasive evidence linking immersive retail experiences to increased dwell time, emotional engagement, and ultimately product purchases, convincing senior leaders to allocate budget to physical retail enhancements remains an uphill battle. Why is this? While almost all Retail Directors and Design Leaders concur that a well-crafted in-store environment amplifies brand loyalty and customer connection, translating into higher sales and enhanced shareholder value. The crux of the issue lies in shifting the perception from viewing these investments as mere expenses to recognising them as long-term value drivers which positively affect the lifetime relationship consumers have with a brand.

There is a delightful quirk of human psychology at play here. Much like the individuals who run them, businesses are notoriously inclined towards shorter-term results. We constantly face this paradox in various aspects of life. Consider the allure of junk food despite its impact on our long-term wellbeing. We understand the trade-off, yet our psychology often leans towards immediate gratification. Similarly, businesses chase short-term gains—quarterly reports, this year’s P&L statements, etc. It requires a visionary leader to stomach a significant short-term loss and face the shareholders’ wrath for the sake of long-term prosperity.

So, how do we break free from these psychological shackles? How can we coax businesses into seeing beyond the immediate and scale up their thinking to encompass the broader picture? That’s the real question worth solving.

The Real Question: What Does $3 Million Buy You Today?
We find ourselves repeatedly trying to demonstrate the tangible benefits of investing in physical retail spaces. However, we often face the paradox of tightening budgets and shrinking margins. One client candidly remarked, “We don’t sell from the ceiling.” And indeed, convincing a CFO to see the value in enhancing store aesthetics can feel like selling sand in the Sahara. Yet, a mindset shift is crucial. The impact of a store environment often seems intangible, demanding a fresh perspective on its value and impact.

A Thought Experiment in Brand Building and Shareholder Value
Let’s reframe this debate. In the grand theatre of brand building, customer engagement, and shareholder value, what does a $3 million expenditure truly get you? How does this compare when spent on advertising versus physical store improvements? Consider this: our current ceiling budget for a store stands at a modest $5 per square foot. Imagine increasing this investment by $10, to $15 per square foot. What is the potential return on this additional spend?

For a 3,000 sq.ft. store, this equates to an additional $30,000 per store, multiplied across 100 stores, culminating in a $3 million investment. Now, let’s crunch the numbers.

The Unseen Reach of Physical Store Enhancements
One store sees 6,000 visitors per month, totalling 72,000 annually. With each visitor spending around 30 minutes in the store, this results in 2,160,000 minutes of exposure per store annually. Across 100 stores, this translates to 216 million minutes of exposure per year. Over a seven-year period, the typical lifecycle of a retail store, this amounts to a staggering 1.51 billion minutes of exposure. Breaking it down, the cost per minute of exposure is a mere $0.002.

Let’s then consider the vaunted 30-second TV advertisement during the NBA finals. Just securing the media slot will cost you a hefty $2.5 million. Throw in production costs, and you’re staring down a $3 million spend. For that princely sum, you might capture the attention of 8 to 15 million viewers—assuming they don’t dash off for a drink during the break. But here’s the kicker: not every viewer is your target customer. Many are just there for the basketball, blissfully indifferent to your brand.

Now, let’s add another layer. Say your ad also makes the rounds online, amassing views on social media, it might collect another 10 million views, totalling 25 million impressions over its lifespan. Yet, even the most iconic ads have a finite shelf life. Consider Apple’s legendary 1984 Super Bowl commercial by Ridley Scott, which has garnered around 2 million views across various streams. A later Apple Vision Pro ad has hit 40 million views, but such numbers are the exception, not the rule.

Contrast this with the humble physical store. Every visitor who walks in is there with intent—some level of brand familiarity or a specific purpose. They are not a random audience but a curated one, already predisposed to engage with your brand. The depth and quality of these interactions can far exceed those fleeting ad impressions, providing a richer, more tangible return on investment. With TV, each minute of exposure costs about $0.24. When you compare this to a similar investment in physical retail, the sustained, meaningful interactions in a store see a 120-fold advantage - a staggering difference!

Let’s take a step back from our specific ceiling example and broaden our perspective to the entire store environment. Imagine this: one of our clients recently spent over $100 million on media and advertising in a single year, spreading its message across every conceivable channel and medium. Now, let’s juxtapose this with the investment required for a 100-store national rollout—a similar budget.

Would the value and impact we demonstrated with our ceiling example translate when applied to a comprehensive new store concept and full-scale rollout? Maybe not a 120-fold difference, but it certainly reframes the conversation about physical retail investment and opens up the discussion around the profound, multifaceted impact a well-designed store can have, far beyond the fleeting impressions of a TV ad. This isn’t just about spending more; it’s about investing smarter and rethinking the context in which we measure value.

The Nuances of Experience: Short vs. Long Exposure
Here’s where it gets interesting. Short experiences, like TV ads, are designed for quick, high-impact impressions. They must deliver their message in a blink, relying on repetition to cement recall. In contrast, the extended, multi-sensory experiences offered in a physical store can foster deeper emotional connections and more complex interactions.

A TV ad may provoke an immediate emotional response, but its effect is ephemeral, and requires constant reinforcement. A store visit, however, allows for sustained engagement. Customers interact with products, absorb promotional messages, and engage with staff, creating a rich, multisensory tapestry of brand experiences. Typically, these are longer experiences that can foster deeper (emotional) connections that live with consumers for a longer period, something much harder to replicate in a 30-second spot.

The Final Thought: Reimagining Investment in Physical Retail
Ultimately, comparing an advert to a store experience is akin to comparing a sprint to a marathon. Both have their merits, but the nature and depth of engagement differ vastly. Investing in your store’s physical environment might not yield instant gratification, but it offers a profound, enduring impact that can transform customer perceptions and loyalty over time.

Shifting our focus from instant rewards to enduring benefits is an uphill battle against human instinct. This same dynamic unfolds in business when leaders allocate substantial budgets to short-term marketing campaigns over strategic, design-led initiatives aimed at sustainable growth and lasting value creation. We understand you can’t just find more money for a store fit, but shifting some marketing budget to physical retail could be the smart choice. The allure of quick wins can overshadow the potential for long-term prosperity and enduring customer relationships.

There are many different lenses and KPIs to consider when understanding why investing more in physical retail is invaluable. This shift from seeing the physical retail space purely as a sales channel to understanding its value as a brand ambassador is just one of the ways we believe senior leaders need to reevaluate their investment in the physical space. When we add metrics like Impressions, something often used to judge marketing exercises, to how we evaluate physical retail, it’s a game-changer. So, next time you are looking at budgets for a store fit, make sure to remember - enhancing your store environment isn’t just an expense; it’s a strategic investment in your brand’s future, delivering dividends in the form of loyal customers and sustained sales growth. And if you can convince your senior leaders of this, you might just find yourself spinning that straw into gold after all.

IMAGE CREDITS

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Retail therapy is the idea that shopping is a comfort-seeking escape from our everyday lives, a social or self-indulgent pleasure that makes us feel good. We’ve all experienced the welcome distraction of browsing a great store, or the rush of excitement we feel after purchasing a new pair of shoes or the latest smartphone.

Should there be more of a focus on the therapeutic nature of retail? Should customers come to understand the emotional benefits of shopping and seek it to regulate mood as they might a yoga class?

Brands must now view their stores as spaces that can improve customers’ wellbeing or even provide social wellbeing as a by-product. This focus can reinvigorate the role of the physical store and re-energise shopping as an activity. Research around the positive emotional impact of shopping has focused on the power of choice or the influence of self-satisfying purchases. Notably, this considers the moment of transaction the most fundamental part of the retail experience. But what about experiential retail? Does today’s role of the store open opportunities for greater impact on the wellbeing of shoppers? The role of the retail store has seen such evolution in recent years. The types of shopping missions that exist have expanded beyond the functional. We now see people motivated by social, educational, entertainment and escapist shopping missions. Now that we have uncovered the power of these missions in retail, we have expanded our capability to provide more positive experiences.

What do we mean by wellbeing?
Wellbeing has become a commonly used term, being uttered by brands, media and in social discourse. What do we mean by wellbeing in this discussion? Do we mean happiness? Do we mean mental health? Not quite. Wellbeing is essentially our personal evaluation of our individual lives, referred to as ‘subjective wellbeing’, and it encompasses two components. The first is ‘cognitive wellbeing’, often measured by a global assessment such as ‘how satisfied are you with your life?’ The second component focuses on emotions, referred to as ‘affective wellbeing’, assessed by measuring levels of positive and negative emotions throughout the day. While both are subjective measurements, they have different applications over time. Our emotions oscillate and can be influenced by small moments. Yet life satisfaction (our cognitive wellbeing) is a more complex assessment and less easily shifted, rarely determined by a single moment. Our discussions about the influence of retail design concern ‘affective wellbeing’, the subjective measurement of positive or negative emotions.

Why is wellbeing something to consider?
Brands with a retail presence are increasingly associating themselves with causes such as social equality, inclusion and diversity and sustainability. Businesses realise the potential impact they can have on social issues, and create a stronger connection with customers through a shared value system. In this regard, wellbeing can serve a similar function. As an extension of mental health, wellbeing is one of the most significant social issues that remains largely untouched by global retail brands. There is no doubt that it’s an issue that holds immense currency with many consumers, so how can retail brands play a part in improving society’s wellbeing? If we assume that a retail store can enhance the wellbeing of a shopper, albeit fractionally, is this significant enough to justify motivation on the retailer’s part or even a sense of duty?

Wellbeing is determined by many interacting variables, including income, personal goals, gender, family, social relationships, employment, personality and genetics (there are many more). There’s no single determining factor, making any small effect significant. In this sense, any momentary improvement in our mood should be considered worthwhile. This is similar to other social issues retail brands address. No single store or global business will have a sizeable environmental impact through their sustainability practices. Yet, despite this, retailers are beginning to understand the urgency and value of small, collective change in tackling these problems. Retail’s influence on social wellbeing is no different.

Retail therapy is not therapy retail
Retail therapy is not about a product or service that may improve wellbeing, but about the accompanying store experience. It’s important to differentiate between the two. Many retail businesses sell products aimed at improving wellbeing. Health and wellness is a growing retail market segment; examples include beauty products and services, electronic massage devices, holistic spa treatments or supplements, food and beverages. These products may benefit our wellbeing but are separate from the retail experience that accompanies them. Indeed, one may detract from the other. The stress-relieving benefits of a massage or facial may be reduced by a changing room lacking privacy, an unhelpful staff member or a payment process that takes the joy out of what was a pleasurable experience. Retail therapy focuses on store experiences with detachment from product or service benefits. The activity of shopping for clothes, shoes or a new phone could be an experience that alleviates stress or momentarily improves wellbeing.

How can the physical store experience improve the wellbeing of shoppers?
Below, we have identified several perspectives surrounding wellbeing that should influence retail design.

Retail is leisure that allows us to escape
Many people need an outlet to escape the stresses and expectations of modern working life. This could be one of retail’s greatest contributions. A study featured in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that psychological detachment from work (‘switching off’ mentally) is a major factor in improving wellbeing. Psychological detachment suggests a distraction from job-related thoughts. Importantly, this study found that frequent short-term periods of detachment were effective, rather than long-term holidays usually associated with unwinding from the stresses of work. Leisure activities providing short-term detachment after work improved wellbeing levels measured at bedtime, which can compound into better quality sleep, further improving wellbeing. Can visiting a retail store after work provide this psychological detachment and improve wellbeing? Psychological detachment is not achieved by time away from work, but by something requiring our attention aside from work. There is no doubt that a retail experience can provide this required escapism within each one of the functional, social, educational and entertainment consumer shopping missions.

The importance of retail as social leisure
The psychological benefits of social interactions and social leisure are well known. Informal social activities, such as conversations with friends or participation in community activities, have a greater positive impact on wellbeing than solitary leisure activities. Psychologist Robert Putman, in his novel Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, documents how an increase in solitary leisure time in America since the Second World War led to a decline in community trust and reciprocity. There is no doubt that participation in social leisure benefits our wellbeing. Shopping has always been a social activity for some people, but more can be done to encourage it as a social pastime. Retail brands can provide more opportunities for social leisure by intentionally facilitating these experiences in stores. By facilitating social experiences, retailers will provide a more enjoyable customer experience. Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who is noted for his work on happiness and the psychology of optimal experience, found that people report social experiences with friends or family the most positively.

The social benefits of retail are especially pertinent for the elderly. Younger members of society have much larger social networks and more regular social interactions as a by-product of work or school. For elderly members of society, often more isolated, the more basic social interactions in a retail setting are of greater significance to maintaining positive wellbeing. Robert Putman distinguishes between productive activities (doing things together) and consumptive activities (watching things together). Productive activities are better for creating social ties and feelings of social connectedness. For the elderly, social connectedness and social isolation are the biggest determining factors for mental health and wellbeing. This is where retail can have its greatest impact on public health, perhaps its greatest positive impact on society in general. Considering the size and financial resources of current ageing populations, providing store experiences that are inviting, engaging and active for older shoppers is a massive opportunity for retail brands.

Nice on the eye, good for the brain
Exciting new domains of research are merging psychology, cognitive neuroscience and design. While the relationship between the three is not yet clear, previous studies have found that viewing art improves psychological and physiological states that enhance wellbeing. A 2006 study by Clow and Fredhoi found that visiting the Guildhall Art Gallery in London lowered participants’ salivary cortisol levels and (subjective) stress levels. Neuroaesthetics explains how aesthetic experiences can influence our wellbeing - simplified, viewing something that is visually pleasing leads to positive emotion by activating brain regions associated with reward and emotion processing.

This sheds new light on the importance of aesthetics in retail store design. Can a visually pleasing store leave customers feeling more positive about their store experience? At the 2019 Salon del Mobile in Milan, an exhibition presented by Google measured physiological responses to three interior environments. Using wristbands to measure biometrics, the study showed that visitors’ heart rate, skin conductivity, skin temperature, and breathing rate responded to design elements such as lighting, furnishing, colour, scent, and music. This begins to provide scientific evidence that retail designers can meaningfully use aesthetics to reduce stress or arouse a physiological response in a store environment.

The power of a self-actualising store experience
The field of positive psychology has established that being in a ‘flow’ state improves our wellbeing. A flow state is a mental state which occurs when we are immersed in an activity, focused, energised and aligned with the task at hand. It’s an active, meditative state where there is a balance between the skills of a person and the challenge of the activity with a clear goal in mind. How flow states influence our wellbeing should be front of mind when designing any person-centred experience, including retail.

Science journal Environment and Behaviour published a study analysing the daily experiences and wellbeing of 500 U.S. families, which found that individuals who had stronger ‘flow experiences’ in their leisure activities reported greater levels of wellbeing. Another study by the science journal Leisure Studies analysed the daily experiences of older adults and found that flow experiences and ‘serious leisure’ were associated with positive (affective) wellbeing. ‘Serious leisure’, in many ways similar to flow, was defined as an activity demanding commitment, something that satisfies, with personal or social rewards. Is it possible this is an insight into what can make the most rewarding retail experience? Perhaps rather than comfort, we seek a challenge and rather than service, we seek enrichment?

For brands, the most positive function of a store is to create an environment that facilitates and builds a relationship between customers and the brand. This is the ambitious goal of idealistic retail designers and businesses alike. Can retail experiences that encourage a state of ‘flow’ deliver this desired level of customer attachment to the brand? Research published in Frontiers in Psychology found that flow-induced activities also establish deep connections to the location where they take place. We associate the feelings of personal growth, learning and development with that specific environment. The future of retail must take advantage of this.

The link between brand mission and an aligning self-identity is already understood by retail brands, for example, a person who passionately identifies as ecological will endorse or support a brand that is sustainable. The person’s association with the ecologically minded brand becomes self-affirming or even self-actualising. What’s missing in this dynamic is the integration of the physical store to enhance this consumer-brand association. A flow-inducing experience - a goal-oriented immersive activity - that embodies that brand mission could turn the physical retail experience into a self-actualising moment.

There is no universal experience for improving wellbeing
A store’s ability to be personalised and adaptable is incredibly relevant in the context of shopper wellbeing. There are numerous formulas for creating a retail experience that may contribute to improved wellbeing. Shoppers during the week, after work, might require detachment, escape or relaxation. While daytime shoppers, who may be more energetic and have a higher capacity to focus, might benefit from self-developing activities that are goal-oriented. Different brands will also attract varied customers with different needs or expectations. The needs of a teenage consumer visiting a flagship tech store will vary significantly from those of a parent and child visiting a toy store. An elderly customer may benefit more from an active social experience than an adolescent customer, but less from an activity that challenges them or pushes their limits. The customer circumstances, brand values and product offering must all be considered in identifying the ideal strategy to improve wellbeing. Brands and retail designers must understand who the customers are and what relationship they have with the brand.

Retailers should leverage these insights to stand out and move their store beyond the transactional. Many of these insights suggest store objectives that are not new, but this understanding reaffirms the need to shift stores towards prioritising experiences instead of transactions. After understanding the possibilities of wellbeing in retail, the challenge is for designers to translate these broader strategies into design solutions. How does a store achieve flow experiences that integrate customer and brand missions? How do we design the right social or escapist experiences? The challenge also lies in the decision-making that precedes design decisions. Are there designers bold enough to create experiences that are challenging rather than comfortable or convenient? Are there senior leaders in retail willing to make profound decisions to prioritise customer wellbeing in their store experiences? This new perspective on the physical store can be a reinvigorating mission for retail brands, a way to stand out among competitors and be a positive force for good. Focusing on customer wellness can act as a new way to create loyal connections and new brand ambassadors. There is no greater issue than wellbeing, and as with other prominent social issues, retail has a duty to have a positive impact.

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Consumers are holding themselves to a higher ethical standard, with more people trading their desire for convenience for a greater social cause. Sustainable products are gaining popularity despite their larger price tags. Alongside, we’re seeing segments of the population opt for brands with values that reflect their own and moving away from those that don’t hold these values. Overall, our collective consciousness towards more ethical purchasing and brand choice has grown.

Our financial insecurity has seen our budgets receiving just as much scrutiny as our purchasing ethics. The economic forecast means most consumers will be purchasing less and with much greater consideration. Getting great value has never been as important as it is today. With our purchasing decisions being over-researched and over-informed, consumers expect higher standards and better value from retailers and brands. With brand ethics feeding into consumers’ purchasing decisions, alongside a focus on tighter budgets, brands will have to work harder to secure customer loyalty.

Values not value
People are rethinking their whole reason for buying. ‘Do I really need it?’ ‘What is the greater impact of my purchase?’ Our purchasing motivation is shifting away from price toward aligning with brands that have strong ideals and are devoted to wider social causes. The traditional aspects of retail, such as a good product assortment, convenient delivery and great customer service, are no longer enough to differentiate a brand. Consumers are searching for brands with which they share common ground. Brand values will become one of the most important aspects of consumers’ purchasing decisions.

Shopping by social cause
Increasingly, brands are being judged by the social causes they support - inclusion and diversity, sustainability or fair trade, as well as staff treatment. It is only a matter of time until the notions of a ‘good business’ and an ‘ethical brand’ merge into one. Can segmentation by social causes be manifested in a physical retail space? In the future, we might see department stores with product zones based on brand values. Imagine products segmented by sustainability or by how much of a brand’s profits go to charity. Perhaps deciding what social causes a brand supports is the ultimate form of brand equity, with the most valuable customers extracting the most social value.

Immersed in values
Today’s parameters of social significance: sustainability, environmental impact, cultural diversity and inclusion, to name but a few, are only becoming more common and more overt. Although product price will always be a driving factor in purchase decisions, a brand’s ability to have a personality and take a stance on social issues has risen up the consumer priority list. If these brand viewpoints and corporate strategies factor heavily in our purchasing decisions, then it makes sense that this information is readily available to consumers.

When we view a product in-store, alongside the product features and benefits being displayed, a brand’s affiliation with a social cause should be included in the information communicated. What was the environmental cost of manufacturing? Or what is the gender wage disparity of the company? Customers will want this information to be prevalent at the point of purchase, not something they research before or discover after their purchase. A brand’s values need to be interwoven into everything, and retailers need to start using their stores to tell stories beyond the products and services. It helps ensure that customers feel that they made the right choice.

Our purchasing decisions will be determined by a brand’s values and ethics. We spend our money more carefully while also believing we can make social changes through our support for the brand. Retail needs to communicate the more intricate personality of modern brands. Business values need to be immersive experiences usually reserved for products, because brand personality sells. Social causes are becoming an increasingly important factor in consumer decision-making, and these stories need to be communicated at every moment along the pathway to purchase, including within the store environment.

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It’s budget season again. That peculiar time of year when companies throw millions at “marketing,” sprinkle a little on “branding,” and hope “design” will somehow make it all look pretty. The problem? We often treat these three disciplines as if they’re interchangeable. They’re not — and the confusion is costly.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿
𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 defines the promise. Why you matter. The meaning you want people to attach to you.

𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 makes it real. Proof in the world. The experiences, environments, and touchpoints where promises are tested.

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 spreads the word. How people notice, engage, and (ideally) act.

Each plays a role. Each is essential. But when budgets are allocated, design is too often the quiet afterthought.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲
Executives spend disproportionately on marketing and branding because they’re easy to buy and easy to measure. Media impressions, campaign reach, awareness scores — all feel tangible on a dashboard. Design, by contrast, is harder to quantify. It doesn’t shout. It whispers. But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Branding without design is theory.
Marketing without design is noise.
Design is where promises meet reality.

You can buy all the attention you want, but if the design fails, the experience collapses in the first five seconds of walking into the store. That is where credibility is won or lost.

𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹
Design is not just “the aesthetics department.” It’s the hinge that connects meaning to momentum:

It makes branding tangible.
It makes marketing credible.
It transforms intent into experience.

Ignore it, and you’re left with campaigns that deliver people to underwhelming spaces — a fast track to disappointment.

𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘀
When the dust settles, a budget isn’t just numbers in a spreadsheet. It’s a bet on what will matter next year. Most bets go on awareness or belief. But that’s rented space. Attention and sentiment fade quickly if they aren’t anchored in reality.

Invest in design, and you own the experience — the proof that compounds over time. Design multiplies the impact of everything else. It’s the quiet force that makes your brand believable, your marketing efficient, and your business prosperous.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗸
As you set next year’s budgets, pause and consider:

Are we renting attention, or are we building something that lasts?

Many retail businesses have rightly begun to prioritise critical social issues such as environmental sustainability and diversity and inclusion. As a design consultancy focused on physical spaces, we have worked with clients and written about these issues. The true impact of retail stores and the influence of retail businesses extends far beyond the above issues. This influence has become increasingly evident as we saw a few years ago during the pandemic, when restrictions forced stores to temporarily close, reducing bustling city high streets and local villages into ghost towns. Only once stores closed did we recognise the true value of retail in our lives.

One element of retail that remained constant was the ability to purchase products (albeit online and delivered to our homes). We’d taken retail for granted, forgetting its purpose as a stage for culture and creativity, a place for community and social contact, and its role as an employer. These are the elements we wish to bring into focus.

Retail is a microcosm of society. The prominence of the retail industry means it has an ability (perhaps even a duty) to tackle more significant social problems and influence lasting change. By highlighting the true impact that retail has, we hope to inspire retailers to use their stores as a positive force for society and, in doing so, forge deeper relationships with customers. Such a reconfiguration of perspective —and perhaps priorities —will benefit customers and businesses alike. It will not just improve the perception of an individual store, but of the brand too.

Retail transforms and defines communities
At the heart of most European cities and towns, you will find a church. The central location of these churches is symbolic of their role in society, as a focal point that binds the community. In today’s society, places of religious worship are less of a focal point and have largely been replaced by retail as places for social gathering. The modern American mall is often the centre point of the town. The local row of shops is often the main artery of a British village, and the modern town square no longer sits beside a cathedral but is encircled by retail stores.

Retail stores are critical to revitalising urban locations, helping stimulate local economies and social integration. A great example of this is King’s Cross in central London. This once industrial area has been successfully regenerated into a mixed-use development comprising of residential property, commercial offices, educational campuses, hospitality, and retail. At the heart of the redevelopment is Coal Drops Yard, a shopping destination that demonstrates the transformative qualities of retail. Most importantly, it creates a focal point for culture and commerce, a place for social interaction that connects surrounding offices, transport hubs and the broader city.

Whilst King’s Cross is an example of large-scale regeneration, retail can also influence change at a much smaller scale. Even a single retail store can have transformative value. Local areas are often defined by the types of stores they host. Having a brand flagship or a destination store can change how people view that area. The brand’s investment is a symbolic endorsement of the locale, and while it’s likely to be a strategic decision to open a store in a specific location, a brand doesn’t always reflect on the transformative effect of its choice.

The power of modern brands is such that they can define, or redefine, an area through their existence. Suppose a brand opens a flagship store in a traditionally undesirable area with the intent to regenerate it. The investment might return to them two-fold, creating a wave of devoted local customers and brand ambassadors. It’s also likely that other retailers will follow their lead, attracting new customers from outside the area, having a further positive effect on the local community. Starbucks Community Stores are a great example of retail designed to lift disadvantaged areas by providing local jobs and an aspirational place to meet. Similarly, Foot Locker Power Stores are committed to hiring staff who live locally. The proof of their investment will come to fruition in future years, but it would be great to see other brands follow their lead.

The store’s greatest value is as a social space
The oldest example of retail (that bears any resemblance to modern retail) would be an ancient Greek agora. Located in the city centre, these were gatherings of traders and merchants. People would shop, but also socialise and participate in discussions around wider society. Fast forward more than two thousand years to the earliest iteration of the modern shopping centre. Wealthy French middle-class would stroll down the arcade of the Galeries de Bois in Paris, admiring high-priced items displayed behind glass. Some people would purchase, but it was predominantly a place to be seen and to socialise away from the dirty streets.

If we strip retail down to its bare essence, it is less a place to purchase and more a social pastime. In their strive for commercial success, retailers have lost sight of this over the last few decades. Yet recent trends are shifting retail back to its original core purpose. Firstly, the emergence of e-commerce has begun to free the physical store of its core duty to facilitate transactions. The resulting emergence of experiential retail is a modern adaptation of its original social and communal role; shopping is a pastime we use to escape, discover, and learn. Secondly, the pandemic stripped societies around the world of all social interaction, revealing our true dependency on physical retail to fulfil this basic need. This newfound awakening is something retail businesses must respond to now; stores are a social space that can energise and revitalise society.

For many, an interaction with the postman, the butcher or a local grocer is an important feature of social normalcy and may be considered akin to participating in society. As populations age, opportunities for social activities often reduce, as hospitality and cultural events are often dominated by youth. Retail experiences could emerge as a predominant form of leisure among older generations and, as a by-product, create feelings of social integration. With this in mind, targeting older generations in physical retail might be a great social cause with far-reaching benefits. It might also be an astute commercial decision to target this group, given their purchasing power and leisure time.

For modern brands hoping to captivate younger consumers, the social nature of retail has a different face. The growth of branded social experiences is a reflection of this. A yoga class at Lululemon or a drawing class at Apple leverage the physical store, naturally bringing people together and creating a sense of community. For younger generations, retail might also need to reflect the social landscape beyond the physical retail store.

At a time when social media is entrenched in the culture of social interactions, it makes sense that the emergence of retail stores as social spaces for these younger generations involves integration between social media platforms and the physical environment. Burberry’s ‘social retail store’ in Shenzhen does just that. Using a custom WeChat mini programme, customers explore and engage with the store, generating ‘social currency’. This is one of the new realities of physical stores being social spaces. The union between phones and stores is currently focused on marketing and sales. While a truly social experience will utilise phones to encourage peer-to-peer interaction within the physical store. Engaging and socialising younger consumers digitally in this way embeds them more firmly into their ‘tribe’, ultimately generating a deeper loyalty to the brand.

Staff are the custodians of change
In the UK, retail is the largest private-sector employer with 2.9 million workers, while in the US, the sector employs over 15 million staff. Whether it’s supermarkets, telco or clothing stores, there are few workers people encounter more often than retail staff. The importance of staff in our shopping experience is evident. 71% of customers say store staff have a significant impact on their experience. They’re also highly regarded brand ambassadors. Customers are 2.6 times more likely to recommend a business after interacting with an engaged member of staff. Yet their importance in society has been greatly undervalued. The nature of their social reach means that encounters with happy, motivated staff can potentially create a significant positive ripple effect across our wider society.

When the UK plunged into a national lockdown due to the pandemic, there was a change in the way retail staff were perceived. Supermarket staff re-stocking shelves were seen as ‘front-line’ workers. A job rarely associated with significant social importance was re-interpreted as critical to a functioning society.

Central to maximising retail’s impact on society is how we value and treat retail staff. Retail has always been about people. If we analyse the broader value of each staff member, we get a glimpse into the greater value of the industry. Retail staff are more than shelf-stackers and cashiers. On many levels, they are educators and advisers. They need to be knowledgeable but also patient and empathetic. We need retail staff to understand the importance of every moment of social interaction. They may offer the only moment of social interaction for a customer on that day. Staff need to understand when elderly customers need help or how an autistic or disabled customer might have different needs. Such a complex melting pot of required skill sets would present a recruitment challenge for any industry. With this in mind, retail staff must be treated with respect and regarded as experts.

As the public face of the brand, retail staff must embody the brand’s involvement in social causes. In light of social movements to protect women from violence, several British supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, and Marks & Spencer) have advertised their premises as ‘safe spaces’, effectively designating their stores as places of refuge for people who fear for their safety. A year earlier, British supermarket Morrisons and pharmacy chain Boots announced their stores as places for victims of domestic violence to seek refuge and contact social services. The British government also collaborated with Boots and other independent pharmacies to launch a code-word scheme, ‘Ask for ANI’ (Action Needed Immediately), allowing victims to discreetly alert staff to their need for help.

These initiatives are an example of the potential capacity that retail stores and their staff have to influence a community and its wellbeing. Initiatives like these instantly re-frame the role of supermarket and pharmacy staff. Attending to domestic violence victims is normally handled by counsellors or police with specialised training - this is now becoming the remit of store staff, who must be trained to deal with these situations. Expanding their roles in such ways should surely elevate their status.

Retail’s role in reducing collective stressors
One delayed morning train can cause moments of emotional tension across hundreds of people’s workspaces. Retail experiences have a less obvious but similar capacity. Negative moments caused by ineffective communication or a poorly designed in-store service can easily lead to inconvenience and aggravation.

The store can be a setting for tension and stress, or moments of discrimination and exclusion. What needs to be understood is that our experiences in retail are so frequent that their cumulative effect can often affect our day-to-day mood. Consider how security protocols impact a shopper’s psyche. Retail brands commonly recognise that staff interactions are a symbol of how the brand values its local customers. What needs far greater consideration is how retail experiences shape how customers view themselves. It may be easy for retailers to underestimate the impact of a single moment within a store. A single act of discrimination in a store, such as unnecessary security checks, might be deeply uncomfortable in the moment, but it can also leave a lasting and traumatic impression.

Retailers need to take ownership of their role in the broader experience of local communities. Designing stores without friction is often a thankless endeavour. When something works, it is just ‘how it should be’, going unnoticed and rarely receiving praise. Yet positive moments that reduce stress can contribute to an accumulated experience of society; this should not be lost on retail businesses striving to provide ‘frictionless’ experiences. In contrast to a delayed train, an innovation that improves the parking or payment experience can enhance experiences beyond that moment.

Conclusion
Retail is so intertwined with society that it has the potential to significantly influence our well-being. In our daily lives, we might have several retail interactions: visiting a coffee shop in the morning, a bank during a lunch break, a clothing store after work, followed by a supermarket before going home. Friction in these moments accumulates and contributes to our collective experience over a day, a week, or a month. In much the same way, good experiences can have an equally positive effect. The moments of human kindness, the excitement, discovery, or the delight in learning something new. In this sense, what is the true value of a well-designed retail experience? It is so much more than selling a product or connecting with a customer. Good retail design involves considering your location and how you contribute to the surrounding community, creating an accessible, cultural and social space. Good retail design is not just about providing positive experiences but ensuring there are no moments of negative friction and understanding its impact on both the individual and the community.

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