Retail has suffered terribly through the pandemic but now is the time to look at how it can embrace change and Connected Design.
This is where consumers don’t just experience a brand, they are actively engaged with or connected to it.
The driver behind intrinsic connection with customers is so they stay for the retailers’ journey – they listen, watch and buy.
They stay during growth or contraction, they stay through changing seasons. They are connected long past one shopping moment.
As I see it, a customer is always a customer – it is not simply isolated to the moment where money is exchanged for goods.
In every store we design there 4 key pillars we look to achieve – convenience, continuity, community and connection. For each of these pillars we ask key questions:
Convenience
- Can we make shopping in-store as convenient as shopping online?
- Do we need to provide seamless click and connect?
- Is information easily accessible in-store or must customers rely on store staff?
- Do the in-store team know as much about the product/service as is on the website?
- Does in-store assistance help to narrow down decision making?
Continuity (of care)
- Do we care about our in-store customers as much as our online customers?
- Do we follow up with them post-purchase, via automated feedback loop for instance?
- Do all our channels provide continuity of service? Are we truly omnichannel in experience?
- Do people coming into the store know who we are if they haven’t visited us online?
Community
- Are our values clear to customers?
- How can customers align with us if we don’t share who we are?
- How does the design support sustainability initiatives – are we greenwashing?
- Do we communicate sustainability authentically around conscious material design choices?
Connection
- Do we show that we care about our customers and their business?
- Does the design excite them to show we want to teach them, interest them?
- Are we interested in our customers’ feedback after an in-store experience?
To create a long-lasting relationship with shoppers, connection is at the forefront of our design strategies.
Lizzi Whaley
CEO
