Description

Holistic Retail Design sets out a theory that reshapes shopping by introducing strategies in holistic constitution and the improvement of retail experiences. It covers stationary, temporary and digital customer touch-points and intermediates between the consumer, the retail brand and the products being offered. The theory shapes spaces, platforms, events, interfaces, signage and communications, expanding scope whilst introducing retail archetypes linking to customer role models.

The holistic approach in retail is a child of the second digitisation wave. Since 2005, the changes that Web 2.0 applications have wrought on consumers' social and everyday practical behaviour patterns marked the beginning of the internet's impact on purchasing behaviour, and consequently on retailing. Total price transparency, visible customer reviews and the soaring number of online shops changed the market. However, nobody was responsible for the single most vital differentiation factor besides price: the customer's holistic experience, lately also known as the customer journey.