Future of Store Layout [it's not new]

In a world where e-commerce is becoming a more predominant method of shopping, what is the role of the physical store? This is a common question and topic we hear and read about.

I propose that the store become the hub for where customers and brands meet in real life. A few examples are popping up around the world, where we can see stores becoming more of a marketing exercise. Customers can experience and learn about; the brand story/philosophy, the offering and have access to products and services not usually unavailable online.

With budgets squeezed to fund an ever-growing digital focus, physical stores must not be left out of the picture. To support a business that is becoming 'phygital', 'new retail' and omnichannel, the bricks and mortar store can become experiential ‘content houses.’ From a store design point of view and from my experience, I offer 2 solutions to achieve this.

1. The first is the store design floor plan layout. This is what we will discuss in this article.
2. The other solution is the store design approach and method of interior design and display. To be discussed in an upcoming post.

Store Design Floor Plan Layout

To house such vast expectations for a store now, the open-plan layout we have all become accustomed to is not ideal for a customer-focused and curiosity-inducing experience. A flexible multi-room design would be better suited with elements such as; meeting spaces, customer services that include easy click and collect, personalisation, members areas and events. These are social functions that can bring people together. A store can also be the stage set for a brand's digital marketing, filming and photoshoot studio. On top of all these stores will still want to sell products but it's not all about it being a transactional space. There is a lot that needs to be considered and fit into the future store layout.

Customers need exploration and discovery to be truly immersed. The recent Anya Hinmarch multi-store takeover in Chelsea, London is a prime example of a brand understanding the evolving purpose of physical retail. Empty high street real estate is sadly a consequence of a changing retail landscape what a brilliant move to expand a brand on the same high street. A series of small shops allow Anya Hinmarch to show different facets of the brand in traditional and contemporary contexts. The theatre of their pop-up corner shop has not only increased sales but created content and press coverage that spans much further than the fashionable streets of Chelsea. That same excitement, curiosity (and PR) could not have been achieved through any large open single store style layout.

Recent store openings such as Browns and Burberry's new flagship in London, are the latest in-store design and customer experience. They both have layouts that allow the customer to discover and explore everything on offer but at the customers' pace. The brand also controls the experience, revealing themselves how they want to be. It is an orchestrated journey. Creating a sense of exclusion, there are spaces for members (VIP customers). This is important for luxury brands that run the risk of becoming oversaturated and mass-marketed. The customers at the top of their pyramid segmentations must be maintained and nurtured. This target market must have a place for them to go and be recognised. These are fantastic retail spaces for retailers who know what they are doing and understand what their customers want.

But this is not new. There are many examples around the world. Dover Street Market stores have been and are an exciting example of creating spaces to house their various collections of brands that allow each one to have its own voice. A multi-room layout was the rule for Ralph Lauren stores. We designed stores like a home. Actually, Ralph's private residences were often designed and furnished by the same Creative Services department. An example of a typical layout is a floor plan I drew when I was a junior store planner (header image). This space could have easily been an open plan but we intentionally divided it into areas and created archways with adjacent pilasters with case line, only making the opening as wide as it needed to be for traffic flow. I have already been advocating this design philosophy in previous posts. In particular, I recall a conversation with a cocky retail designer that prompted a post on this subject.

Even a large warehouse environment, such as a discount or grocery store needs some kind of ceiling, wall treatment and wayfinding solutions to make the shopping experience more human in scale. We are instinctually hunters and gatherers and love finding objects of desire, whether it's a bargain at Poundland or Birkin bag at Hermes (actually you have to order the latter in advance).

The environment a store designer creates can be customer-centric and not just a store designed around merchandise but more through how we want the customer to feel. Online shopping gives a certain level of entertainment and retail therapy satisfaction and some sensory stimulation (more and more now with gaming merging with retail), but the physical environment is still the most interesting place to have a full experience and importantly, share that experience.

As designers, we create hubs where customers can make memories. The high street was just that, a place where memories were made and we need to return to that as retail evolves. People have been isolated for over a year, so an engaging environment that something to be experienced, that shows and teaches you something, is an ideal way of bringing people together. Not just as a response to lockdowns but for the future of retail.

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