Wherever relief from COVID-19 is evident, we can see signs of recovery in offline retail, that is at physical stores and shops. In the first months of 2021 countries have lapsed again into third and fourth waves of COVID and lockdowns, which caused a reversal of earlier signs of recovery experienced. But where a recent… Read More
Designing Customer Experiences Around Personas
When mapping customer journeys, it would help to design and direct them with regard to personas of customers, ‘profile’ concepts of plausible types of customers that seem real and approachable. Having the image of a customer before one’s eyes with human traits, background, attitudes and preferences, can make it easier to plan and prepare for… Read More
Between Experience and Loyalty: The Case of Retailing
There is broad agreement, growing over the past decade, about the importance of improving and enhancing the experience of customers with companies, their brands, products or services. The journeys customers undergo, from shopping and purchasing through on-going service and support, should be streamlined and facilitated to make customer experiences more friendly and productive. It is… Read More
A New Opportunity Arises for Pop-Up Stores
Temporary stores pop-up in recent years more frequently in different retail locations such as central shopping districts (e.g., on high-streets or inside urban quarters) and in malls; as you might expect, they are called Pop-Up Stores. These stores or shops may operate for as short as a few days to as long as two or… Read More
Aesthetics Can Have Intelligence
Aesthetics is a fundamental aspect of product design. The visual design of a product affects the quality of consumers’ interaction with it, their usage of the product, and actually the product experience as a whole. Aesthetic appearance in particular contributes to the pleasure of viewing and utilising a product, whether it is a physical artefact… Read More
Building Experiences Around Tea
Drinking good quality tea is an experience inseparable from the product ‘tea’ and its attributes. The flavour and aroma of the tea are experienced by our senses (taste as well as smell). The attributes of a drink product like tea have to be felt, and consumers now are more interested in that experience than in… Read More
The Attraction of Colourful Displays of Merchandise
Colour has a strong attraction power: it can capture visual attention faster than other design features; it can be inviting and appealing; and colours can evoke specific feelings and emotions of consumers. Furthermore, colours may play an important role in establishing a brand image. Henceforth, colour serves in particular as a primary tool in store… Read More
Changing Priorities for Stores and Shops
Store and shop owners need to adjust to changes in shopper behaviour; for example: shoppers do more research online on products of relevance before visiting a physical store — they prepare for their visit and come more informed; shoppers visit a physical store or shop to browse and inspect merchandise on display first hand but… Read More
A Brand Mix-up of Entrecote
Le Relais de Venise: L’Entrecôte; Le Relais de l’Entrecôte; L’Entrecôte. The names of these restaurants are similar, partly overlapping, and they all follow the same concept of steak-frites bistro (more on the concept shortly) developed in the family Ginsete de Saurs. Yet the restaurants belong to three separate business entities within the broad family, each… Read More
Getting the Balance of Customer-Company Effort Right
One of the more frustrating experiences for a customer occurs when he or she is working hard to try resolve a problem in using a product or service of a company, while seeing that the company is doing only little to help. More and above the time and effort that the customer reluctantly has to… Read More
