Store Design

Whether at your favorite big-box store or stopping to pick up some groceries, it’s hard to ignore the shopping carts scattered haphazardly around parking lots these days. The return of shopping carts to their designated spots or back inside the store has become somewhat of a test of morality in recent years. However, returning shopping…

Whole Foods Market, the Austin-based grocery store chain owned by Amazon.com, announced Monday it was introducing a new, smaller, "quick-shop" store format "designed to provide customers in urban neighborhoods a quick, convenient shopping experience with easier access to fresh, high-quality offerings," according to a company press release. The new format, called Whole Foods Market Daily…

As the retail industry evolves, strategies for success have dramatically shifted. Gone are the days of static store layouts, now replaced by a dynamic, data-driven approach that requires ongoing iteration. For retailers to thrive in 2024, a refocusing of key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential. Central to this new approach is understanding and maximizing foot…

For retailers designing curated and experiential spaces for customers to elevate their in-store experience vs. competitors’ stores or e-commerce alternatives, the challenge remains: How do you design a store layout that maximizes both the customer experience and overall sales? Artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI, can provide deeper insights, faster iterations and more intuitive store…

Since great store design starts with customer experience, I’ll start there. I went into a popular electronics store for an Apple Watch. There were only two to see. Both were tethered to a “wrist loop” so you could “try them on” by slipping your wrist through the plastic loop that held the watch. So, I…

The retail industry has undergone a dramatic transformation in the face of factors such as Amazon.com's dominance and an uncertain post-pandemic landscape. To stay successful, retailers have had to adapt their stores rapidly — from reworking layouts to setting up delivery or pickup areas — all while ensuring customer service is still at its highest…

During the early 2000s, while the retail industry was getting battered by e-commerce, grocery stores were seemingly safe. Twenty years — and a pandemic — later, much has changed; e-commerce and delivery services have transformed grocery retail. Today, when consumers visit a store, they enter with much higher expectations. A convenient and smooth, seamless shopping…

The acceleration of e-commerce, two-day shipping, and the rise of experiential design has prompted the evolution of traditional brick-and-mortar from the retailer’s central point of sale into an expression of the brand that adapts to customers’ habits and industry trends. Architects and designers strive to maximize brick-and-mortar’s potential through meaningful and enticing in-person experiences. Looking…

Target has unveiled plans for its next-generation store design. At nearly 150,000 square feet, the retailer's new larger-format stores will optimize additional space in an effort to support same-day fulfillment services and deliver on its stores-as-hubs strategy for fulfillment of online orders. The new store format recently debuted in Katy, Texas, outside Houston, and is…

It’s been long established that music has the power to stir emotion and influence consumer behavior. In 1973, business professor Philip Kotler first addressed the science of sound in retail when he coined the term “atmospherics” for the practice of designing store environments to project a specific image and induce certain behaviors. In an article…