What Makes a Retail Space Experiential?

Unlike ordinary interior spaces, experiential retail design goes beyond form and function to conjure strongly favourable emotional responses from customers. The experience might be influenced by design elements such as: 

• Form
• Colour
• Lighting
• Scale
• Soundscape
• Scents
• Textures

Besides designing for function, it’s a matter of designing for experience (that’s not to say that function should be dismissed). The retail space essentially becomes a theatre set or curated museum space that customers can independently explore.

What are the emotions that need to be conveyed? Warmth? Suspense? Cheer?  Naturally, the desired mood is often tied to the brand identity and the product offerings.

While interior design is a powerful tool in shaping experiential retail design, it’s not always enough on its own. The human factor is key, and customer service and in-person interactions play a large role.

Events are among the most effective ways to infuse vitality and foot traffic into brick-and-mortar stores, transforming them into experiential destinations. These events can range from anything like workshops and demonstrations, meet-and-greets, live music, in-store giveaways, food tastings, and more.

Design flexibility is key for retail spaces that plan to host events.

Here are some interior design choices that might be convenient when it comes to event logistics:

• Large entrance areas with room for signage, check-in desks, or meet and greet staff
• Multi-purpose spaces that can easily be cleared out to host different types of events
• Modular, moveable furniture that can be adjusted to enlarge floor space
• Wide circulation areas to allow for comfortable traffic flows during high-capacity events
• Hidden staging areas for temporary personnel such as caterers or performers
• Extra furniture to pull out when needed

Some of the most memorable experiences are multisensory. When it comes to the auditory element, it’s not just about the music. Acoustic comfort in retail means that a commercial space has minimal echo and is easy on the ears. Acoustic solutions with high acoustic absorption contribute to the overall experience by absorbing the excess noise that typically make customers feel bothered and ready to head out.

Some powerful ways to combat high noise levels are:

• Acoustic ceiling tile systems: Covering a large surface area, quality acoustic ceiling tiles such as Rockfon Color-all or the monolithic Rockfon Mono Acoustic absorb sound waves and prevent them from reverberating.
• Acoustic islands and baffles: Hanging solutions such as Rockfon Eclipse or Rockfon Contour are ideal for spaces where a suspended ceiling isn’t suitable, or where frequent and unhindered access to services is needed.
• Acoustic wall panels: Wall solutions such as Rockfon Canva Wall panel absorb interior sound waves while delivering statement design with their canvases, whereas the wooden modular wall system Rockfon Lamella minimises wall-based sound reverberation with an earthy touch.
• Acoustic dividers: With a zoning approach, dividers such as Rockfon Canva Floor screen and Rockfon Canva Hanging divider make it easy to improve acoustics in open spaces.

Explore retail spaces that have optimised their acoustics using Rockfon solutions to offer comfortable shopping experiences while employing sustainable retail design practices.