Store sense: Reclaiming the four walls with - Deakin University

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Image 3: Tesco’s virtual store This virtual shopping experience could easily be implemented within traditional physical retail spaces, enabling product purchase and without product displayed on shelf an presenting opportunities for both greater sensory engagement and inventory optimisation. Touch: the power of the tactile experience Central to consumer engagement in-store is the power of touch. Although virtual representations of products online can convey look, shape and colour, our sense of texture, temperature, weight and feel is realised only through touch. Retailers can however often make it quite difficult for consumers to readily access products, especially in upmarket retail environments where security may be high but staff numbers low. It’s important to remember however that touch and ownership - or anticipation of ownership - are closely related, with recent US consumer research confirming that (in an experimental setting) when consumers physically handled a product their sense of ownership and their valuation of the product both increased [21] . Interestingly, other related research [22] revealed that the concept of touch holds further implications for purchase behaviour dependant on who has been seen handled the product: Specifically, male consumers responded positively to the contaminated (touched) product when it was touched by a highly attractive woman but not when it was touched by a highly attractive man. Similarly, albeit to a lesser extent, female consumers responded positively to highly attractive male contagion but not to highly attractive female contagion’ (p.698) Retailers should therefore not underestimate the role that touch plays in the buying decision process, especially where product integrity, quality and comfort are involved. So how can our sense of touch be optimised in retail environments? 14
Tactics and techniques We know that touch gives the consumer a sense of empowerment in their shopping experience which cannot be replicated online. It enables them to have a tactile interaction with the brand or product, thereby influencing their experience and subsequently their purchase decision. In fashion retailing a lot of the decision-making is tactile. Shoppers like to feel the textiles as well as try the clothing on, fuelling emotions for aspirational decision-making. Beyond the traditional `product touch’ approach in-store, intangible products can also be experienced and there are many other ways of bringing touch into the traditional retail environment. Touch screens have become more commonplace within retail spaces as a way of mimicking the flexibility of an online experience in-store. Kiosks with in-built touch screens have enabled many retailers to present more product information and choices to consumers, increasing their product knowledge and simplifying the purchase decision. However many retailers have tried and failed with this approach, perhaps underestimating the need to provide consumers with unique content which adds value to their sensory shopping experience. Footwear retailer Adidas has recently taken the idea of touchscreen shopping into their stores with the introduction of an interactive shopping wall enabling shoppers to examine up to 8,000 3D models of shoes. Shoppers can navigate and manipulate the virtual product showcase using touch gestures. The benefit for the shopper is that they can enjoy browsing in one location in store, have access to a more extensive inventory and at the touch of a button can have all their questions answered and choose to purchase. Rather than ‘replacing’ the store, this technology is a good example of how to blend virtual technology with more traditional in-store sensory engagement. Image 4: Adidas in-store touch screen 15
Page 1: Store Sense Reclaiming the four wal
Page 4 and 5: About the authors Danielle Barclay
Page 6 and 7: online retail sales will more than
Page 8 and 9: The youth market - ‘future-proofi
Page 10 and 11: The sensory store As the dawn of th
Page 12 and 13: What is interesting to note from th
Page 16 and 17: In Australia telecommunications ret
Page 18 and 19: When the listener steps out of the
Page 20 and 21: Taste: try before you buy Case stud
Page 22 and 23: etailing tools and technologies is
Page 24 and 25: References 1. Soars, B., Driving sa
Page 27: Contact Danielle Barclay General Ma

Store sense: Reclaiming the four walls with - Deakin University

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