Experiential Shopping - What is it and why is it so important?
In simple terms, experiential shopping is what makes the difference between shopping at a ‘real’, bricks and mortar store and an online store. It’s the unique experience that a physical store can provide that an online one can’t - the opportunity to try a product, smell the aromas and taste the food. It’s about allowing a customer to use all of their senses whereas in the online shopping world, it’s simply just sight that comes into play.
Think about the decision making process of buying a perfume for yourself or as a gift. How could you choose one that you love if you can’t smell it? Many people like to wear it for a while to experience how the fragrance evolves. That can’t be replicated by an online store.
Another well-known version of experiential shopping is when you test drive a car. Sure, you could go online and watch those exhilarating videos of someone else driving a car and the 3D renders of the interior and exterior. But it’s not even close to being in the showroom and feeling the leather, smelling that new car smell and checking if the contour of the seats moulds to the shape of your own derriere. And when the sales person passes you the keys to do a test drive, that’s the ultimate in experiential shopping. Even though you know that you’re being pulled into the buyer’s vortex of a sales funnel, you don’t care because, quite simply, you’re enjoying it!
4 KEY ELEMENTS OF EXPERIENTIAL SHOPPING:
Engaging the Senses to create a lasting impression and reinforce the brand or product. Think of the smell of coffee or bread baking, tasting honey at a sample station, putting on head phones to be fully immersed in the music.
Interactive Experiences that encourage a customer to spend a bit more time instead of just buy a product off the shelf. For example, sitting with the kids at a colouring table testing new textas or making their own fresh nut butter in store.
Hands-on Engagement is like ‘try before you buy’. It allows a customer to try the products in a way that provides a meaningful experience. In a hardware store it might be allowing a customer to actually use a drill to see how it feels. At a pet store, perhaps a puzzle corner where a dogs get to try boredom and pet puzzles to see which they prefer - paws-on engagement!
Community & Socialisation creates spaces that function as social hubs, something humans thrive in. Workshops, classes and meet & greets are great for this, as are stations or places in a store that encourages people to linger and chat. But also, this is where a really engaging salesperson becomes someone to have a conversation with, transforming a simple shopping trip into a shared, social experience.
THE WHY:
It’s said in retail that a consumer doesn’t buy a product for its practical function, the purchase is driven by an emotional or psychological benefit. If I buy this healthy food for my family, I’m a great parent. If I buy these sports shoes, I will run faster. If I buy these cosmetics, I will feel more confident. Preparing a gourmet meal becomes a feeling of indulgence and sharing a special moment and buying the materials for home handy work becomes about building a better life for the family.
These are the emotions that experiencial retail is tapping into. It’s about getting the buyer to emotionally connect with a product or brand so that they can get past just the functionality of the product to how it’s going to improve their life or their own personal well being. Don’t leave it up to their imagination, they may not connect the dots. Experiential retail puts the dots right in front of them.
As a bricks and mortar store, if you don’t offer an amazing experience that someone genuinely enjoys, why would they bother going to all the effort to get off their sofa, get changed out of their tracky daks, travel to your store and then walk in the door if they could simply order the product online?
“Oh, but they can get the product from us straight away,” I hear you say. That’s true, and sometimes that’s important, but online deliveries are pretty quick these days so there’s not that long to wait any more.
“But we offer product and technical advice!” Sure, you probably do but it’s pretty easy to do a quick online search to find the answers to just about anything.
“Our service is great!”, you implore. Ho hum. Everyone says they offer great service but that’s not the same as offering a great experience.
“For a bricks and mortar store to not only survive but thrive in this world of online shopping, it needs to reinvent itself as a destination store. A place where people are entertained, amazed and engaged in a way that goes beyond a simple transaction.”
Humans are craving in-person, immersive experiences. We know that because weirdly, that’s what they post about on social media. They record every experience they have and then share it with the world. And that’s a great thing for a bricks and mortar store. You create the experience, and let your customers tell everyone about it.
In fact, 81% of consumers globally are willing to pay more for experiences that elevate shopping, according to research undertaken by Westfield (URW) and published in ‘How We Shop: The Next Decade’. That’s amazing news for retailers!
THE HOW:
The big question is, how do you replicate that in your bricks and mortar store? How can you transform your space into a destination store that encourages your customers to interact with the products and engage with the brand? How can you give them such an amazing experience that as they walk out the door, their first instinct is to tell their friends but their second one is to look forward to coming back?
Some businesses lend themselves far more easily than others to integrating experiential shopping techniques. Think of cosmetic counters where customers are encouraged to test the products on their own skin; there are sometimes even make-up artists talking them through it. Or an Apple store where large tables are laid out like a ‘town square’ so that customers can test products with others around them, encouraging them to chat to others and linger more than they would if they were just on their own or just in and out with a quick purchase.
You’re going to have to flex your creative muscles! And if that doesn’t work, borrow from those around you.
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