Experiential retail is the comprehensive experience that traditional retailers offer shoppers. Pop-up stores, masterclasses in-store, and hosting community events are all examples of experiential retail.
What is Experiential Retail?
Experiential retail is the process of creating unforgettable shopping experiences for consumers. It directly engages customers and invites them to experience your brand in a tangible, personal way.
With increasing selectivity among consumers regarding the brands they shop from, in-store shopping experiences must stand out from the competition. But shopping experiences shouldn’t be completely fake and entirely disregard the commercial element. At the end of the day, shoppers are still there to discover and purchase products.
According to a study by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Shopify, more than two-thirds of consumers (35%) plan to engage with brands through experiential moments in the coming year. So it’s no surprise that 40% of brands stated that providing experiential retail would be a top priority for them in the coming year.
Benefits of Experiential Retail
Three out of four brand marketers rated experiential marketing as “very important or somewhat important,” according to a study by Crossmark. Some retailers in certain countries see the positive impact of experiential retail faster than others. In China, for example, 78% of department stores added experiential elements into their stores.
Let’s take a look at why experiential retail tops the priority list for many merchants.
Meeting Experience Shoppers
The retail landscape is constantly evolving. Today’s customers don’t just want to purchase products; they are looking for memories. They are willing to spend more money on them: about 76% of shoppers prefer to spend money on experiences rather than products.
Experiential retail combines products and experiences to deliver the best of both worlds. For example, a haircare store with a barbershop provides an experience that the young audience is willing to spend money on, with the products available for purchase as well.
Highlighting Community and Charitable Causes
Quality, price, and convenience are three elements on the mental checklist for many consumers when searching for brands to buy from. However, there is one box that retailers often forget: purpose.
Research indicates that 77% of people feel more positively about brands that make efforts to support the community. Furthermore, for some generations – such as Gen Z and Millennials – community is essential. After being dubbed “the loneliest generation” due to growing up amid a digital revolution, half of Gen Z consumers want brands to have a social impact that they can be part of.
Building Brand Loyalty
As many as 93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases from companies that provide excellent customer service. But that doesn’t just come in the form of helpful answers from store associates; customer support can take many forms – many of which relate to experiential retail.
Let’s say you run a handmade goods store and host a pottery class in your shop. At the event, you guide customers on how to care for pottery, how to paint it, and tips for caring for the new vase at home.
All that information is considered excellent customer service. You’ve won them over with your pottery knowledge, so when they want to purchase a professional vase, your store is the first on their mind.
Increasing Foot Traffic
Who hasn’t visited an IKEA store on a rainy day? Many people visit these massive warehouses as a family outing. The home furniture designs provide inspiration for shoppers to decorate their own homes – in addition to the fantastic merchandise displays everywhere.
In
A recent survey of European consumers revealed that 75% of participants said this type of comprehensive retail experience would convince them to shop in-store. The lesson: offer it to your customers to increase foot traffic and boost in-store sales. (It’s easier to get people to buy a product when they’re already in the store.)
Create Social Media Engagement Opportunities
Consumers often talk about their shopping experiences with friends. More importantly, they post about them on social media. The result is a cycle of experiential marketing that drives word-of-mouth marketing, as past shoppers convince their friends to come and have the same experience.
Data collected by Buffer reveals that people typically share quotes and multimedia (like images or videos) from live events on social media. This social media chatter helps create buzz around your brand and the products you are promoting at the event, allowing you to reach two audiences: those present at the event and their social media friends who see the shares.
Experimental Retail Ideas to Try
Are you ready to dive into experiential retail? Here are five ideas you can try, even if you don’t have a traditional store (yet).
Roaming Trucks
Pop-up shops have become popular in recent years, but smaller retailers might struggle to launch a temporary store on a budget. Instead, you can launch a roaming truck. Agencies like Pop-Up Mob specialize in creating on-demand temporary experiences for smaller retail brands.
Community-Focused Local Events
Many retailers hold events for local community members. You can take this idea a step further and offer the retail space to individuals who might benefit from a place to gather. That’s exactly what camera and backpack company Peak Design did when it made its flagship location in San Francisco available as a co-working space for artists.
In-Store Collaboration Initiatives
For some brands, an in-store collaboration initiative can become an experiential event. This is the approach taken by luxury accessories brand Senreve when it hosted a retail event in its San Francisco store in collaboration with Aurate jewelry.
Hands-On Workshops
You can start small by hosting personal events at your traditional retail location. For example, show customers how to use your products or offer a skill-related workshop relevant to your category.
Examples of Experiential Retail
Experiential retail is hard to get right. Let’s take a look at six standout brands doing it well and understand what makes their experiences effective in terms of increasing foot traffic, boosting sales, and building long-term loyalty.
LIVELY
The entire LIVELY store experience is one of ambience. Store founder Michelle Cordeiro Grant wants every store to feel like a club: “We want women to come in and feel comfortable. They can rely on us to come in here and not feel any pressure to shop.”
gorjana
The jewelry brand gorjana recognized that the atmosphere in its store contributes to the shoppers’ experience when they visit. Rather than filling the store with best-selling items and maximizing floor space, its founders prioritized the scent, aesthetics, and the overall feeling a person gets when they enter the store.
Manifest and Flow
Manifest and Flow has sold crystals and journals to its customers. The brand experimented with experiential retail through its e-commerce retail store.
Canada Goose
The clothing brand Canada Goose is known for its outerwear. It specializes in winter clothing for harsh weather, worn by people engaged in winter sports or planning a cold-weather vacation.
Tecovas
Not
All experiential trade strategies need to be exaggerated. Tecovas, the shoe retailer, takes a simple yet effective approach by providing services in its store in Austin, Texas.
Nike Rise
Nike’s athletic brand is no stranger to experiential trade. Its new retail concept, Nike Rise, is the store of the future.
The Future of Experiential Trade
It’s hard to accurately predict the future of commerce. However, trends and shifts in consumer behavior indicate that experiential trade is here to stay – just with some changes.
Augmented Reality
Retailers can rely on emerging technologies to offer the experiences shoppers are looking for. Augmented reality is one example. It works by overlaying graphics over a live broadcast of something – whether that’s your store, the customer’s body, or their home.
Experiential Exhibit
This allows customers to walk in and experience the brand and product while enabling them to easily complete purchases online. Items they are interested in from the store can be emailed to complete the purchase later.
Unifying In-Store and Online Data
Personalization is at the heart of many great shopping experiences. Nearly half of consumers in the U.S. have purchased something more expensive than planned due to a personalized customer experience.
Training Store Employees is Essential
No matter what type of experience you provide to in-store shoppers, be sure to train your sales staff on how to handle the event.
The Impact of COVID-19
We cannot overlook the impact of COVID-19 on experiential trade events. At the beginning of 2020, traditional stores were closed. Although half of shoppers plan to return to in-store shopping as soon as restrictions are lifted in their area, people are still worried about their health and safety.
What makes shoppers feel more confident about shopping in stores post-pandemic are safety protocols such as wearing protective masks, limiting the number of people in the store, and regularly cleaning the store.
Creating Unique Experiences in Your Store
Experiential trade is not just a passing fad – it’s the future of how, where, and when we shop. Today’s consumers have higher expectations than ever, and experiential trade is quickly becoming the new standard as it offers the experience shoppers are willing to spend money on.
Additionally, it’s an emerging and fun marketing way that helps you engage with current and potential customers and brings you out from behind the screen. Consider it a way to build lasting relationships beyond the initial experience.
Source: https://www.shopify.com/retail/serial-events-how-to-build-community-and-customer-loyalty
Leave a Reply