Mix Talking Point: radical retail
David Roberts, managing director of retail and hospitality design agency Formroom, explores how redefining physical experiences can shape the future of the high street.
Formroom x Dyce Marylebone
This article first appeared in Mix Interiors #231
Words: David Roberts
The once-bustling high street, battered by the surge of e-commerce giants, faces a crucial crossroads. While vacant storefronts paint a bleak picture, the future can instead embrace radical retail, a movement redefining the retail experience through innovative design, captivating experiences and a renewed focus on the human connection missing from online interactions. Design plays a crucial role in this transformation, extending beyond mere aesthetics. Where once we may have focused purely on the physical customer journey, defined by product interaction and transactions, at Formroom we’ve begun mapping out a customer’s emotional journey through a space too.
Storytelling environments emerge, utilizing cutting-edge architecture, interactive displays and experiential elements to weave customers into the brand’s narrative. We move beyond the changing room and transform into personalised style consultation zones, or a technology brand that seamlessly integrates its product into a hospitality space. This fosters a sense of community, itself tied to a positive brand impression in the consumer’s conscious or unconscious mindset.
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