Retail Design in the Digital Age

When e-commerce emerged on the scene, there was a lot of speculation as to how it was going to revolutionize retail. There was even talk that it would render bricks and mortar stores obsolete with consumers eventually doing all their shopping online.

Fast forward to today. E-commerce has now been around for a while. Sure, it's gained quite a bit of traction, but it has yet to eliminate consumer trips to retail stores. That's not to say that the internet hasn't had any influence on the way we shop. Having this endless resource of product information and reviews and ability to customize our shopping experience has left us feeling entitled to the same experience inside a retailer's physical location.

So, how can retailers recreate that experience in their retail environment? It's all about going digital. A quick trip to the mall these days turns up a number of examples of how retailers are adding interactivity to the shopping experience: kiosks that display in-depth product information with the swipe of a barcode, TVs that run promotions and other advertising content, digital signage, touch screens and so on.

If improving the customer experience wasn't enough, digital displays and signage allow added control and easy deployment because content can be managed and sent to multiple locations from a central point. This also helps retailers keep content fresh and up-to-date, drawing another parallel to the e-commerce experience.

Thought of some other ways going digital can help retailers? See any cool digital displays, signage or campaigns lately? We'd love to hear about them.