E-commerce is creating unprecedented change in the retail landscape. A lot has changed regarding the way consumers shop, with online purchasing now being the choice of many. But despite that growing digital shopping trend, physical retail stores don’t have value. The evolution of store design is the key to maintaining that value in an age locked up by e-commerce. Specifically, the store fixtures and retail displays are going from good but not good enough to being great and further bridging the gap between digital and physical.
Today’s shoppers are awash in tech and mobile devices, and e-commerce is a delight. Consumers don’t have to stick within the four walls of the store anymore, and they want the physical and digital experience to play together. As the prowess of Omni channel grows, a study from Shopify reveals that 73 percent of consumers used multiple channels before placing an order. The days of going to a store and just buying stuff are over. Physical stores need to define a different experience, one that is able to attract consumers who know what they are missing out on by shopping online.
With e-commerce becoming more prevalent, store fixtures are being created to appeal to shoppers' experiences post online regardless; their design supported by digital trends. Retailers are realizing the importance to create more than a transactional experience, it is all about developing a set of spaces that offer customers a multi-sensory experience that is worth their while.
With the intent of being flexible, technology integratability and personalization, the store fixture is being reimagined as a traditional store fixture. Retail displays are becoming more customized than ever to both the business and the shopper’s needs. This evolution is aided by the rise of interactive displays, personalized shopping experiences and demand for high tech in store solutions.
Today one of the biggest trends in store fixture design is integrating digital technology. Due to the growing popularity of more and more customer to get involved with products new and innovative ways, interactive retail displays are making a big comeback. Touch screens, AR is included as well as virtual try on.
For instance, beauty retailers now offer digital mirrors through which customers can virtually ‘try on’ makeup without ever, it seems, touching their skin. And now fashion retailers are adding virtual dressing rooms, whereby customers can experience how clothing will fit on a digital avatar before they buy. First, these interactive fixtures close the gap between the convenience of online shopping and the physical shopping experience that you would ordinarily get while browsing in store.
In the case of smart shelves that are able to detect where customer interaction take place. So these shelves will alert customers about promotions, discounts, or complementary items when they notice them based on their browsing behavior. Modern store fixtures are, at the same time, becoming vital tools in creating an Omni channel shopping experience through the combination of immediacy of e-commerce with sensory engagement of in person shopping.
Central to store fixture design for today’s consumer is Omni channel retailing, the combination of physical and digital shopping experiences. With these new systems, customers can browse products online, see them in store, and have them delivered to their home or picked up in store. Retail displays first need to be functionally and flexibly adaptable to different customer behaviors.
A big trend in Omni channel retail is ‘click-and-collect’. Products are ordered online to be picked up in store by customers. To make this possible, more retailers are developing store fixtures with ease of click and collect order access. Pick up areas, typically done through dedicated areas, digital signage and kiosks, are streamlined to ease customer convenience. These digital driven fixtures are designed to keep e-commerce efficient while still retaining the tactility of brick and mortar retail.
With personalized shopping becoming the norm in a world we live in, store fixtures and retail displays are being designed for individual consumer preferences. Retailers can use data driven insights to tailor the in ‘store’ environment to customer demographics, behaviors and preferences. A good example is how digital signage and smart shelves can recommend products to customers according to their shop history, or even based on their position in the store itself.
It’s not just product recommendations that are personalized, this level of personalization goes deep. While store layouts are evolving to create individualized shopping journeys, merchants are also expanding their crypto bets to reach increasingly tech-savvy customers. Retailers are breaking store into different defined zones, with different segment of customers in them. For example, millennial who are tech savvy will want a high tech experience whereas older consumers may want more traditional displays that will allow them naturally engage with the product. By personalizing them, retail displays can actually reach beyond being designated as product showcases, and instead become incredibly woven into the customer’s journey and experience.
Apart from technology and personalization, sustainability is now a major design aspect of store fixtures. With shoppers thinking more seriously about their role in creating their environmental impact, more and more retailers are turning to eco-friendly materials in their shop design. Nowadays, sustainability is a major issue of consideration for designers targeting environmentally conscious customers and this may be achieved from energy-efficient lighting to recycled materials in the fixtures and displays.
Sustainability is also improved by digital technology. To take an example, sensors that make smart retail displays lighting change according to the time of the day, could reduce energy consumption. Besides, many retailers use digital signage that erases printed material and saves paper, too.
Store fixtures and retail displays evolve, and as e-commerce gathers steam, physical stores will even further have to adjust. In the future, there will be even more melding of the digital and physical planes, and stores will likely resemble almost more like showrooms than stores. With time, consumers will look forward to more from their in-store experiences, and therefore retailers have to keep innovating.
In the years to come, we’ll find store fixtures becoming more intelligent, more immersive and more responsive. With the use of AI, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) retailers can create stores that are not just interactive, but also anticipatory to customer needs. Regardless of whether it is via virtual assistants, robotic assistants, or fully immersive AR experiences, the ambition will be to fabricate a space that will be as personalized and hassle free as shopping online.
Store fixtures and retail displays are changing as the boundaries between digital and physical shopping become ever more ambiguous. To gain the attention of the modern shopper, the physical stores have to be designed with technology, personalization, and sustainability woven in. Retailers learn to adapt to the trends of e-commerce, enhancing the in store experience and creating customer delight space, it will lead to engagement and sales. Digital shopping has conquered the world and the future of bricks and mortar lies in how the latter does a seamless, personalized and integrated shopping experience.
