Crafting the Retail Experience

Like it or not, the Internet has changed the retail experience. Consumers have a choice, and for many, the convenience of clicking on a webpage far outweighs any reasons they might have for going into a “brick and mortar” location. But that doesn’t mean retail is dead — far from it. Today’s brands are finding new and engaging ways to entice consumers into their locations, and wide-format printers are playing a major role in that evolution.

First, it is important to define the “retail experience.” It is about more than just the décor of a shop and graphics on the walls. The retail experience is about creating engaging situations consumers can’t find anywhere else, by extending the experience beyond shopping.

“I think there is a fine line between not just décor, but the experience,” says Gurmeet Singh Sawhney, owner, Aahs Enterprises. “But they go hand in hand.”

That is a sentiment that Tom Lawson, director of operations for EclipseCorp, explains. “The projects that we see, it’s more than just printing a brochure or a poster on card stock and then putting it in a frame and hoping it intrigues someone shopping. We can print to a hard substrate and form that into an interactive piece someone can see, touch, feel and maybe use.”