By Ray Sheehan, founder, Old City Media
For decades, retailers have focused on making their stores more efficient. Better layouts, faster checkouts, improved merchandising, and increasingly sophisticated technology have all contributed to a more convenient shopping experience. Yet somewhere along the way, an important question may have been overlooked: what makes someone actually want to spend time inside a store?
It’s a question the hospitality and entertainment industries have been answering for generations. Restaurants, sporting venues, festivals, and entertainment destinations understand that attracting customers is only part of the equation. Creating an environment where people feel welcome, engaged, and entertained is what encourages them to stay longer, return more frequently, and develop a stronger connection with the experience. As physical retailers continue to compete with the convenience of online shopping, there is an opportunity to borrow some of those same principles. The next evolution of the retail store may have less to do with adding another digital screen or self-checkout station and more to do with rethinking what the physical environment can offer.
What hospitality understands about consumer behaviour
My career began in hospitality and live events, developing consumer experiences around festivals, nightlife, and professional sporting venues. Those environments taught me something that has remained relevant throughout my transition into retail: people respond to experiences that feel natural within their surroundings. At a sporting event, fans arrive expecting more than the game itself. They encounter food and beverage experiences, interactive brand activations, entertainment, giveaways, and opportunities to participate in something beyond watching the action on the field. When executed properly, these elements become part of the overall experience rather than distractions from it.
Retailers can learn from this approach. A grocery store doesn’t need to become a festival, and a department store doesn’t need to resemble a sporting venue. However, both can benefit from thinking more intentionally about the moments that occur between a customer entering the store and completing a purchase. What catches their attention, encourages them to explore, or creates a positive interaction they weren’t expecting?
The best brand experiences give customers something in return
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from working across different consumer environments is that a successful brand interaction doesn’t always begin with a sale. Sometimes, the greatest value comes from education, an unexpected reward, or simply helping someone navigate an important decision.
Consider a homeowner walking through a store who happens to be thinking about replacing their windows, renovating a bathroom, or upgrading their kitchen. They may have questions about costs, materials, timelines, or financing but haven’t yet reached the point of contacting a contractor. An opportunity to speak with a knowledgeable home improvement representative can provide valuable education and help them better understand their options. That interaction may not produce an immediate sale, and it doesn’t need to. The customer leaves with useful information, the brand begins building a relationship, and the retailer has helped facilitate an experience that extends beyond the products on its shelves.
Telecommunications offers another example, particularly when brands incorporate customer rewards into their engagement strategies. Imagine a shopper learning about a new mobile phone plan, home internet service, or connected device while visiting their regular retailer. Rather than simply collecting the customer’s information, the brand might offer a gift card redeemable at that same retailer as part of a qualifying promotion. The value now extends beyond the telecommunications company. The consumer receives an incentive, the brand creates an opportunity to acquire a customer, and the retailer benefits from a reward that encourages another shopping visit. What began as a simple brand activation can become part of a broader customer retention strategy.
The value can also be far more personal. Consider a home healthcare provider speaking with someone who is beginning to explore care options for an aging parent or loved one. These are often complicated, emotional decisions, and families may not know where to begin. Having a knowledgeable representative available to explain services, answer initial questions, or provide educational resources can make an intimidating process feel more manageable. Such conversations require appropriate privacy, sensitivity, and a pressure-free environment.
Even something as straightforward as a consumer packaged goods brand offering a product sample can create value. A shopper who might never have considered purchasing a particular product has an opportunity to try it firsthand. A positive experience can introduce a new brand into the household and potentially influence purchasing habits for years to come. These examples represent different industries, but they share a common principle: the interaction gives the customer something worthwhile, whether that’s knowledge, a reward, reassurance, or discovery. And when that happens, the retailer becomes associated with an experience that goes beyond the original shopping trip.
The commercial value of a better customer experience
There is also a commercial reason for retailers to pay attention to these opportunities. Operating a store is expensive. Rent, labour, utilities, maintenance, and technology all contribute to the cost of maintaining a physical presence. At the same time, retailers are continually evaluating new ways to improve the productivity of their existing locations. Retail media networks have demonstrated how valuable a retailer’s relationship with its customers can be. Through digital advertising, sponsored placements, and customer data, retailers have created additional revenue streams that extend beyond traditional product sales.
The physical store presents another opportunity. Consider a retailer with hundreds of locations. Even a modest amount of space allocated to carefully selected brand experiences could represent meaningful incremental revenue when developed across a broader network. However, the financial return should not be measured exclusively by what an outside brand pays to occupy that space. A gift card earned through a telecommunications promotion may encourage a customer to return. A product sample could introduce a new item that becomes part of a household’s regular shopping basket. A helpful conversation with a home improvement representative could strengthen a shopper’s perception of the retailer as a place where they discover useful products and services.
The retailer is no longer just providing space for an advertiser. It is participating in an experience that can bring customers back through its doors. The strongest programs create an opportunity for everyone involved: the brand, the consumer, and the retailer.
Execution makes the difference
Of course, not every brand activation automatically enhances the customer experience. Poorly positioned promotional tables, aggressive sales tactics, and cluttered displays can quickly undermine the very environment retailers are trying to improve. The most effective programs recognise that the retailer’s primary responsibility remains the shopper. Engagement should be welcoming, professional, and entirely optional.
A thoughtfully designed branded area with clear boundaries, appropriate signage, and knowledgeable representatives can create a more inviting experience than an improvised promotional setup. For retailers operating hundreds or thousands of locations, maintaining those standards consistently becomes especially important. This is another lesson from hospitality and entertainment. A memorable event may appear effortless to the customer, but behind the scenes it depends on careful planning, logistics, and execution. Retail experiences are no different.
The next chapter of physical retail
The future of physical retail is unlikely to be defined by a single technology, store format, or marketing strategy. Instead, it will be shaped by how effectively retailers combine convenience, commerce, and human connection. Consumers will continue to value the speed and simplicity of online shopping. But physical stores offer something digital channels cannot fully reproduce: an environment where products, services, people, and experiences come together in real time.
The opportunity is not to turn every shopping trip into an event. Most customers still want to find what they need, complete their purchases, and get on with their day. The challenge is to create experiences that add value for those who choose to participate without creating obstacles for those who don’t. Hospitality and entertainment operators have long understood that the best experiences are built through a series of thoughtful interactions that collectively shape how people feel about a place. Retailers can apply that same thinking to their stores.
The next generation of successful physical retail environments may not simply be places where consumers go to buy something. They may be places where people discover something, learn something, or experience something they weren’t expecting. That could become one of physical retail’s most valuable competitive advantages.
About the author
Ray Sheehan is the founder of Old City Media, a U.S.-based experiential marketing company specializing in consumer engagement and brand activations. His career spans hospitality, live events, professional sports venues, and national retail environments. Through his work with retailers and consumer brands, he brings a firsthand perspective on how physical spaces can create stronger customer connections and new commercial opportunities.
