Is ‘Experiential Retail’ A Sham?

Published On: April 1, 2019By Categories: Long Read

How many times have you heard that “retail is no longer about selling goods, it is about offering experiences”? As a retail consultant for more than 20 years, I read it in virtually every article and and hear it in every meeting, to the point where the experience for me is one of fingernails on chalkboard.

What does “offering experiences” even mean? Writers and speakers tell me that experience is all about “being authentic”, about “telling a story”, about enabling customers to “engage with the brand” or some other such marketing gobbledygook. These buzz-phrases might be rooted in something real. Nowadays, though, they are used so indiscriminately and with such a lack of precision that they have essentially become meaningless.

A faulty premise. First of all, the basic premise is not true. Many retailers today are thriving and expanding even though they do not offer any special experiences – they just sell a good or a service that people really need or want. Secondly, experiences alone cannot pay the rent, and only certain kinds can actually help to move merchandise. More on that next time.

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