The investment pivot: Consumers want less tech, more touch in physical stores
A hallmark of “experiential retail” has long been digital technology—smart mirrors, immersive displays, and in-store apps designed to impress. These elements often appear in formats meant to create “pinnacle experiences” for their most fervent fans: flagship stores, temporary stores, and extended experiences which transcend a brand’s typical products or services.
But, in JLL’s research, consumers are demonstrating a rising desire for scaling back digital in favor of preserving the sensorial, tactile nature of stores. Half say a “compelling store experience engages all my senses,” as demonstrated by a survey respondent from China: “I want to experience things that online shopping cannot provide—feeling the texture of a jacket, trying the comfort of a sofa, hearing music, smelling the perfume or flowers.”
By contrast, 42% were neutral about or disagreed with wanting to “interact with digital screens or touchscreens in-store,” and 51% dismissed the idea that brands need to adopt AI or AR to stay ahead of their competition.
Redefining what experience means
Consumers' expectations of "experiential" are evolving beyond retail's established wow-factor approach. Instead, they’re gravitating towards spaces where navigation feels effortless and engagement is physical, emotional, and authentically in the moment. They can feel and appreciate the difference of being able to move through a store with ease, to hold the products they like in their own two hands, and to engage with souls not screens.
That means today's retailers must embrace sensory optimization and operational excellence as the winning strategies for 2025.
After all, in a world where attention spans are short and desire for connection is high, brands that give customers the efficient, human experience they crave will awaken the most coveted of retail outcomes—lasting customer loyalty.
Download the summary report of Shifting Priorities in Retail Design for more insight into global consumers' shifting priorities. For a deeper dive by insight, region, sector, generation, or format, contact JLL Design’s Emily Miller at emilya.miller@jll.com.