Experiential retail design is a fairly new concept that is slowly taking on among the different players in the retail industry. It’s all about a fully immersive store experience so that customers will want to go back to a brick-and-mortar store, or if they haven’t been, have a reason to visit the store.

Experiential retail design is the byproduct of the popularity of online shopping. Precisely because they can buy anything online from the convenience of their smartphones, people need a reason to look up and be on their way to a physical store.

Creating a fully engaging retail experience inside a physical store is not as easy as it sounds. For most store owners, they have to enlist the services of professionals who specialize in experiential shopping.

Also, the specifics of what goes into the store to make it more experiential largely depends on the products being offered.

For boutiques, it’s all about installing an LCD screen that flashes different outfit of the day (OOTD) items that will entice customers to try them on. For skin-based products, it can mean providing a booth or different booths where visitors can sample products and consult with sales reps for recommendations on the best products to use.

Still, for others, it is also about providing pop-ups for complementary products like an ice cream machine inside a coffee shop.

Basically, in order to be effective, an experiential retail store has to provide more than what is being offered on online stores.

There are some very good reasons why all retail stores should incorporate more experiential retail design elements in their brick-and-mortar stores. In a survey, over 70% of young shoppers say they go to stores to experience samples, interact with consultants. On the other hand, over 40% of older shoppers say they want more out of their shopping experience inside an offline store.

If you have an offline store that you want to make more experiential, there are many consulting companies that can help you. You just need to do a quick search on Google for “experiential retail display consultant”. Be sure to add the name of your local area in your search to get local results.

You should be able to find several companies or interior designers who specialize retail designs that you can choose from, especially if you live close to a major city such as Los Angeles or New York. What you want to do is get a feel for the kind and quality of the work a consultant does.

Even the most professional of professional interior designers have what you call design bias, which indicates their tendency, or the lack thereof, to use different design styles.

As the store owner and operator, you most likely have a better feel for the type of design, security systems and sensory experiences that will enhance your business. Definitely, you will want to work with a designer who is already doing the type of design you have in mind. Make sure to ask for a 3D rendering of their design before actually implementing it in your store.

Once you are satisfied with the work, you can proceed to make renovations to your store and watch sales soar through the roof once all changes are completed.