Whats in It for Me? – Improving Customer Experience – Entrepreneur.com.

Her 5 elements include:

1. what customers see,
2. what they hear,
3. what they smell,
4. what they touch,
5. how they are physically affected (e.g. temperature)

According to Barrows, “The feeling this combination of elements gives customers at the moment, or leaves them with, has a profound effect on sales.”

Visual impact, environmental comfort and auditory stimulation are all givens.  But smell and touch have been a challenge for retailers.  Some places have it easy in that area.  The coffee smell in a Starbucks definitely sets the mood.  The smell of chocolate in a candy store.  But smell is harder to capture in a mass retailer or a clothing store.  What smell will appeal to the customer?  Overdoing it risks averting some customers.  I have friends who have a really hard time spending too much time in Bath & Body Works.  The combinations of scents can be overwhelming.

No matter what your opinion about what those 5 things are, one thing can be agreed upon — the customer is king.  More than ever, the customer is focused on being the star of the show — not the brand, not the product, the customer.

In New York, an old cathedral, which has had many reincarnations including a nightclub and a drug rehab center, has been turned into a shopping center.  Limelight Marketplace aims to capture the interest of the cathedral’s history and architecture to make it a destination shopping experience.  According to the New York Times, the effect is questionable but the idea is no doubt a reach for retail innovation.

In another part of New York, Grand Opening, treats retail like art.  The concept is that there is no concept.  Periodically, the long narrow box of a store is completely changed and merchants are rotated like gallery artists.

In Texas, Kuhl-Lipscomb, has made their 70,000 square foot store into a tourist attraction by offering a unique and eclectic mix of wares that are periodically re-merchandised to create a seemingly new environment.

 SlowRetail has compiled a pretty distracting (in that I spent over an hour following they’re links) list of innovative retail concepts from all over the world.  Maybe the next big trend in design is no trend at all.  After the mall and after big-box, maybe people want to be inspired when they shop and have a little experience to show for it.

The list not only profiles top retail brands, but also examines retail and economic trends that are significantly impacting the way everyone is or will be doing business. 

#1 and #2 are “The Economy” and “Gas Prices.”  The combination of these two factors have negatively impacted retail prices and consumer behavior in a way that many believe will be felt long after the economy recovers.  They also gave rise to the reports number #5 trend, Bankruptcies in Retail.

Sparked by Circuit City and followed by every over-leveraged, consumer-facing business from banks to Sharper Image, the economic dust up wiped out a good bit of the retail landscape.  According to the report, “2008’s bankruptcies came out in two waves, the first of which hit in February and took out companies that sell things we want but don’t need.  A second flurry hit in July, taking out companies that sell necessities that are available cheaper elsewhere.”

The top ten trends and brands in this 24-page report also include Amazon, smaller format stores, digital delivery of products, Apple stores, the iPhone, Holiday 2008 and the future of the shopping mall.  It’s an interesting read that addresses all things we’ve gawked at and questioned and are now having to take a position on to move forward.

Top 100 Retail Movers and Shakers

The wise marketer should look for a firm that will not only help them design a program  that is creative, targeted and impactful, they should also examine the firm’s ability to see projects through to completion and installation at a level that will actually produce lift.

Store manager Joe Cardamone is interviewed in DDI’s piece and identifies price, style and service as the hallmarks of the new JCPenney.  Although this was heralded as JCPenney coming to Manhattan, the video does a good job of capturing the Manhattan style elements that have been incorporated into the store environment.