INTERACTIVE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE IN THE PHYGITAL STORE A SPATIAL DESIGN APPROACH TO BOOST CONSUMER’S ENGAGEMENT

The consumption world is evolving following the fast pace of digital evolution. Simultaneously, the consumer reflects this transformation, remodeling his/her needs, desires, and expectations. The customer acquires a new dimension: he/she is no longer made just by a physical body and a psyche, but also by a virtual body. The consumer expects the shopping experience in the physical store to engage all his/her dimensions and to go beyond the mere purchase that can be made quickly and conveniently online. The research aims to investigate how the store’s space can be adequate for the hyper-connected customer by analyzing the retail spaces of the contemporary scene and conducting a user investigation. The research findings lead to the drafting, on a theoretical level, of guidelines for a phygital store able to provide an interactive shopping experience that fully engages the consumer. The phygital store plans to generate a hybrid experience shaped by merging the physical and virtual dimensions. The space of the phygital store is conceived as a place where purely physical moments alternate with those mediated by the use of smart technologies. It also hosts individual experiences of intimate contemplation and collective ones of social interactions. By adding to the offline shopping experience a digital layer, the social encounters and brand storytelling can be extended to the virtual dimension, offering a shopping experience unique and customized for each consumer.