YourStudio managing partner Holly Simpson has discovered that Londoners want to feel agency and connection, which is missing in many new stores driven by tech-enabled optimisation and experiences, where customers are left uninspired
We’ve all witnessed the evolution of our high streets as the ubiquity of ecommerce has changed how we shop, yet retail design has largely failed to catch up with what people expect from stores and now we can begin to show that.
Stores are being designed for efficiency but are often emotionally hollow. Having heard from 5000 people living in cities around the world, as part of a research project, we now know that their main priority is to feel something when they enter a store, which stands to reason, otherwise why would they bother going?
This is not a point about offering ‘experience’. These shoppers are specifically seeking a sense of calm, with many signalling that recreating the feeling of familiar domestic spaces or being immersed in nature can help achieve this, while deeper engagement is also sought. We know the latter can be found when a space also becomes an environment for community groups to use. Tech-filled, optimised spaces don’t offer solutions to these requirements.
There is a clear gap between what’s desired and what’s offered. Our research shows us that only 9% consider branded spaces to currently be places where people want to build connections with one another, yet we also know that if the use of a space is offered to a community group it will thrive if emphasis is placed on giving them the tools and freedom to build something of their own.. Less is more. Some 40% say simply exploring a store freely with friends and family makes it easier to connect with others. This dwarfs the 15% of people who favour one-off events or pop-ups to achieve this sense of connection.
And what has become clear is that globally very few (23%) want logistics technology in a retail space at all. Surprisingly one in five Londoners (20.4%) say they are not open to having any part of their experience automated or given personalised technological assistance when entering a branded space.
Design around customers, not automation
A recent KPMG report surveying retail leaders, found that many retailers are ignoring this point by aggressively funding digital transformation and rolling out in-store tech to increase efficiency and reduce operating costs. What we’re seeing is that investment in automation without an understanding of your customers doesn’t work. A successful retail strategy needs a considered customer experience. This is proven by the closure of retail fleets such as Amazon Fresh, that prioritised automated efficiency to such a degree that it created a bland and frustrating shopping experience.
The cautionary Amazon Fresh tale overlooks how building emotional KPIs into store design can help brands convert customers into spending. It’s emotion that will influence the future of successful retail.
The new metric for engagement
Last year we identified an emotion gap between what people want to feel in a space and what retail currently delivers. Our most recent research shows that in-store technology, from automated services to digital experiences, isn’t addressing what consumers actually want and need.
Designing an emotionally enriching customer experience is about responding to consumer behaviour. Retailers must look beyond traditional KPIs, such as sales square foot, footfall and average basket value, to also include emotional measures of how spaces make people feel, find connection, and encourage brand advocacy. Emotional connections lead to higher engagement, increased consumer spending, and long-term brand growth.
SKIMS recently opened on Regent Street, and a Westfield London store will follow later this year. The brand has deliberately avoided in-store automation and unnecessary digital interactions, instead creating a shopping experience that prioritises tactility and a considered neutral palette to create a calm and relaxed atmosphere that doesn’t overwhelm. It has clearly considered how customers will use their phones, by investing in soft lighting, so every photo taken (of themselves in the product and of the store) looks incredibly good.
Where SKIMS does invest in technology, it keeps it out of sight, for example extending the customer relationship through the SKIMS app and loyalty programme. In the US there’s even a partnership with DoorDash, which is a pragmatic convenience and tech-enabled service, that leverages the store as a place to touch and try products in real life, creating a halo effect for online purchases that provides their customers access to products whenever and wherever they want them.
Technology needs to be humanised
Investment in technology without emotional design isn’t effective and won’t enable ROI. It’s in the balance between emotion and commerce where the true impact happens.
In-store technology shouldn’t only be about checkout and logistics automation: digital experiences and services can range from sensorial personalisation (environment, temperature, audio) to intuitive digital interfaces, educational experiences, product discovery and play, and social sharing and community interaction.
When stores are designed with the brand positioning and customer in mind, the integration of in-store technology can be used to empower people, engage them and create positive brand associations. Google opened its first flagship store outside of the US in August, Google Store Omotesando in Tokyo, and it has pioneered how in-store technology can be intuitive and prioritise the customer. The customer journey is oriented around Japanese cultural appreciation for premium services, welcoming customers in
and sparking their curiosity through product storytelling and experiences such as the Pixel Studio, a floor dedicated to creative discovery.
Meanwhile, at Zara’s Nanjing flagship in China, the Fit Check studio invites shoppers to capture and livestream their own fashion campaigns in Zara apparel. What’s brilliant about this store experience is how customers are given creative control, tapping into their sense of curiosity and personal approach to curation and style.
We’ve also found longevity in this approach to building customer loyalty. Our 2022 design concept for the Nike Style Store in Seoul generated a 91% NPS score (an 18-point increase), a 250% increase in footfall year-on-year, and a 59% engagement rate with an AR experience. The format rolled out to Dream Mall, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, in August 2026. Each element of the store concept was designed and informed by consumer insights. We spoke with taste makers and creatives across Asia to develop something unique, for the style-conscious sport consumer, then translated it into a toolkit to enable rollout at scale.
So as retailers think about their retail strategy and digital transformation plans, what they need to be asking is: how well do they know their customers? And how does entering their stores actually make people feel? Cold, optimised, tech-filled stores are probably not the answer.
