Retail is a good barometer for what the future holds for e-commerce.
The last few years have been an experiential era. Brick-and-mortar stores, seemingly designed for instagram, became a destination beyond shopping itself.
We’ve observed this trend cooling down. It doesn’t make sense for every brand and people don’t always want it.
The brands that can really own “experience” have woven it into their DNA. It doesn’t feel forced. Peleton, for one, successfully draws their audience with an experiential component at their NYC flagship store. It’s not uncommon to see fans line up outside hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite instructor.
While some brands have been banking on the in-store experience and shareability making them memorable, the opposite side of the spectrum, distinctly serving utility, has its own draw that is worth paying attention to.
The experimental store concepts from Amazon, certainly, but also smaller service-based businesses, like dental, doctors, and personal care are prioritizing a different type of experience. One where utility and efficiency are what makes in-store shopping pleasant again.
An interesting thought exercise is thinking about where your brand would fall on a hypothetical scale of experiential —> utility.
IKEA, for example, manages to blend an immersive shopping experience with a utilitarian edge, all in the same massive retail footprint. I’d argue they lean much heavier on the experience in-store, leading shoppers through rooms and ideas before you have the opportunity to make tangible selections and purchase.
So, what does this have to do with e-commerce? A lot.
AI has started to shake up web standards and we’re seeing a fundamental shift from grid-based design to something more fluid and immersive, introducing tons of opportunity from an experiential perspective.
With the growing popularity of "command-based interfaces" and the available technology to truly deliver on the promise of personalization, we’re very excited about the possibilities for digital products that make shopping online both experiential and very functional.
As we explore and prototype on this topic in our client work today, we’re continuously inspired by and learning from how customers are (or are not) engaging in-store. Our goal is to find that sweet spot for brands to serve up a memorable digital experience, but ultimately give customers exactly what they’re actually looking for.