In a world where shopping online is often the faster, cheaper and more convenient choice, physical store spaces have to deliver more to justify consumers’ efforts.
The days of having shelves packed high with stock and expecting people to walk up and down enormous aisles, waste precious time, make a purchase and be satisfied, are long gone.
Physical spaces need to work harder than ever to attract customers into town and into stores. In a recent European survey, Epson found that 75% of respondents would change their shopping behaviour if retail outlets were more experiential, while research by Westfield showed that 60% of consumers expect retailers to give more floor space to experiences than products.
The bottom line here is that retailers must put experience first.
So how do you up your game to ensure you are a destination for your customers?
One way to do this is by creating a deeper experience in your store or space using art and sculpture. Art has the ability to connect on a cognitive level and to elicit emotion mere transactions cannot.
As we highlighted in our Transformational Trends 2024, 61% of consumers want brands to help them feel intense emotions, according to this 2023 study, and so it follows that if you can give a consumer a physiological response that taps into their emotions you will also generate greater impact and lasting memories around your brand.
Here are some examples of brands tapping into this approach:
Gentle Monster
Gentle Monster is a brand that understands the wow factor (and the creepy factor!). The Korean eyewear label is known for its big impactful art sculptures, often kinetic, that deliver awe at a huge scale, from it’s experiential Giant Human Pop up in Seoul, Korea, to this kinetic, lifelike head sculpture.
Selfridges
A department store for the modern age that taps into its’ customers needs to discover new brands and have new experiences. Selfridges has become an ever-changing and evolving event space with clear creative concepts, themes and purpose that brings the entire store together in a cohesive way.
This goes all the way from its window displays to the Wonder room, to the cinema and to its dedicated live events. Check out these images from the Jacquemus x Nike collaboration hosted in the Wonder room and launched during the Olympics.
The brand has also been known to utilise the exterior space; recently creating a huge climbing wall column at the back of the store, as a fun feature during its Sportopia event, which was held over the summer to tie in with the Paris Olympics.
During this event, The Corner Store promotional area was taken over by luxury watch brand Omega, who are the official timekeeper at the Olympics. This concept was brought to life brilliantly with a 360 immersive space that felt like you were literally entering a swimming pool. Floor and ceiling digital panels invited you to watch the race when Michael Phelps competed in the previous Olympics, when the timing of his success came down to milliseconds. Omega delivered this experience in an awe inspiring creative and clever way.
Chelsea in Bloom
Tapping into the annual Chelsea Flower Show, that attracts over 160,000 visitors to affluent west London, is an event called Chelsea in Bloom.
Produced by Cadogan (the property manager of the area), in association with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the annual friendly competition encourages retailers, cafés, restaurants and squares to compete to create the most fantastical creations from flowers and foliage. You’ll find these bedecking their windows and entrances mostly, while some have entire floral takeovers or pop-ups outside. In 2023 Pizza Express on The Kings Road stood out, with its giant floral pizzas and vegetables and IRL dough-throwing demonstrations in their courtyard – a spectacle that drew huge crowds.
Chelsea in Bloom creates an incredible free experience for visitors, drives incremental footfall and delivers enormous fun and value to shoppers, along with providing an essential Instagram-worthy backdrop for selfies.
Mr Doodle at Sketch
Sketch is a stalwart premium dining and drinking experience in Mayfair, London. Comprising four key spaces, diners can choose the theme they would like to dine and socialise in: whether it’s the woodland-themed Glade for afternoon teas, the Gallery restaurant (whose walls showcase a revolving array of artists), the sci-fi inspired East Bar or the eccentric Parlour.
Sketch is also renowned for having the most-photographed loos in London: its iconic Egg toilets, designed by Mazouz and Duchaufour-Lawrance in 2002, were taken over in June by French artist Mr Doodle, who unsurprisingly doodled over the pods and the walls, creating new reasons to visit and see him perform live! The exhibition continued until September and was the third instalment in a collaborative series between Pearl Lam Galleries and Sketch.
Flannels x W1 Curates
Flannels’ Oxford Street location is a modern department store with a digital facade run by W1 Curates, a public art platform which curates a selection of unique digital talent that is showcased on the exterior of the store and in its basement. Constantly changing, this makes for a vibrant digital space that is always fresh, current and interesting. The basement features a 180-degree display to fully immerse the visitor in the art and often acts as an event space for launches.
Bentley X Mr Brainwash
Known for its traditional, British, luxury vehicles, Bentley recently collaborated with graffiti artist Mr Brainwash to create a limited-edition car.
This seemingly unlikely collaboration, created a one-of-a-kind car wrap, designed by the flamboyant Los Angeles-based, French-born creative. It included references to some of his previous works and the slogan “Life is Beautiful” – a phrase that has appeared on a variety of his artworks since.
The Bentayga itself is based on the Azure model, which features a stunning vertical vaned front grille, beautiful 22-inch 10-spoke wheels and an ultra-luxurious cabin, while the 542bhp 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine ensures supreme performance, delivering the 0-60mph sprint in just 4.4 seconds.
This unique vehicle made its debut in Jack Barclay’s Mayfair showroom in London in July 2024, attended by the artist himself and Her Royal Highness, Princess Beatrice.
The price for the car was available on application.
H.R. Owen is accustomed to selling the world’s most desirable cars, but it’s rare to get the opportunity to offer buyers the chance of owning a genuine piece of art. Mr Brainwash has produced a wonderfully innovative Bentayga that simply radiates a sense of fun, and I am absolutely convinced there will be huge interest at Jack Barclay Bentley from those who are keen to acquire this one-off masterpiece.” Ken Choo, CEO of H.R. Owen
Miami Art & Design District
An entire shopping and dining concept in Miami, Florida, this area screams creativity from the moment you arrive. From the creative murals, street art and sculpture, to the stunning graffiti walls of Wynwood that border the area; this space is a feast for the eyes and senses.
The innovative luxury showcase stores go above and beyond with incredible architecture – even the fascias of the car parks are works of art! Visitors can join the regular art tour or attend specific events. There is also a community yard area that hosts pop-up events – during our visit this was taken over by Omega’s running track.
Cult Gaia
A vibrant hand-painted tile mural adorns the facade of Cult Gaia’s Miami Design District boutique, a project by New York-based studio Sugarhouse Design and Architecture.
This flagship store for LA-based fashion label Cult Gaia is a follow-up to the studio’s previous work for the brand in New York City. The Miami boutique is carefully designed to reflect both the brand’s aesthetic and the unique energy of its location, merging artful design with the tropical flair of the city.
The mural itself is designed to tell the story of the brand, reflecting elements from the childhood of founder Jasmin Larian Hekmat including a favourite phrase of her grandparents over the main entrance. Inside, the space holds a 12-ft sculpture depicting the Greek goddess Gaia, created by Hekmat’s mother, the artist Angela Larian. Large circular openings in the ceiling flood the curved interiors with light, while a banyan tree growing out of the sofa lends a biophilic sense of calm to the surroundings.
Maison Diptyque
Standing out in the luxury space is tricky and most brands tend to throw a lot of marble at it! So it was refreshing to step foot into Maison Diptyque on Bond St, which is their latest 400 sq metre London store.
It’s exquisitely beautiful, from the parquet wooden flooring and stairs enveloped in metal branches and flowers, to the green lacquered apothecary, to the magical bathroom area on the upper floor, featuring gold swan taps and marble flooring.
The store is made up of small spaces and stories and features a pop-up space on the upper floor, currently dedicated to artist painted candles celebrating Villa Noailles in France. There’s also a heritage and fragrance library.
Hermès
British artist and sculptor Alex Chinneck created a series of whimsical, illusionistic installations for Hermès’ Landmark Prince store in Hong Kong in August of 2024.
The store features multiple surreal sculptures that animate familiar Hermès textiles, furniture and accessories in a bended reality. All pieces are living room-themed. The playful window displays blend art, engineering and theatre staged for the living room area. Six different installations unfold across the different window displays.
One standout piece is a rocking horse tenuously stacked with an unthinkable cluster of objects, from clocks to books and an umbrella. A second standout piece is a reimagined bookcase, which Alex Chinneck notes is inspired by a secret door at Hermès’ historic Parisian address, 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. A cutout in the middle of the bookcase is a circular ‘door’ which revolves along a central axis. The illusion and kinetic display becomes a focal point allowing viewers to enter the world Chinneck has created.
Chinneck’s work is a celebration of curiosity and an homage to the heritage of Hermès, exemplifying its tradition of innovation and craftsmanship while creating a highly engaging store experience for customers.
Elevate your space with creativity and human connection
Hopefully the above stimulated some creative juices!
Here are some thought starters to help you deliver creative connections in your space:
1. What is unique or special about your proposition, history, craft or service?
2. Identify what might be interesting for customers to learn more about or explore (don’t push the brand, think of the what the customer needs from you)
3. Find relevant and synergistic artisans, creatives and designers who you like and might collaborate with.
4. Are you more crafty, traditional, or high tech digital as a brand? Meet and greet with the right artists, poets, up and coming designers and work out how you might support each other and fit together, whether for a short term pop up or long term partnership.
5. What experience do you want to deliver?
6. How do you want your customers to feel?
7. What moments of delight, wonder or awe could you deliver?
8. Consider you customers passion points and let that inspire a direction.
9. Ensure there is a value exchange.
10 What do you want your customers to talk about and remember when they tell their friends?
Work backwards from these goals and get in touch if we can help you along this path.
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