(Re)Designed Store Experience Debrief

Executive Summary

Within the retail space, escalated health concerns and altered consumer behaviors have had immediate impacts on shopping habits and omnichannel operations. Customer expectations now start with safety, which affects every stage of the shopper journey in and around the store. To provide both immediate solutions and design with long-term impact in mind, retailers are rethinking their practices and policies, accelerating the deployment of mobile and in-store technology, and providing new services to protect their customers and employees, while delivering a great shopping experience.

Report Overview

The (Re)Designed Store Experience Debrief has been developed to present the ways that the store experience can be optimized along the shopper journey, from trip-planning and browsing to purchase and fulfillment, to meet shoppers’ new needs. This covid store design report has been researched by the PSFK iQ team and specifically explores the customer journey to and through the store, intentionally steering away from the store as a node in an ecommerce process (e.g. BOPIS). It is intended to help retailers refit, reformat and reprogram their physical stores.

What You’ll Learn From This Report

• To empower shoppers in the midst of uncertainty, retailers are providing tools that put greater control in the hands of consumers, allowing them to plan ahead and even handle some transactions on their own devices.
• As customers return to stores, they will intentionally seek out retailers who proactively supply these services, as well as both analog and digital information and visual cues to create a more seamless transition into today’s new normal.
• By elevating existing services and introducing new forms of customer support, retailers are designing the new store experience with both convenience and safety to improve confidence and encourage visits.