Just as bricks-and-mortar stores embraced experiential retail to entice consumers who might otherwise shop online, organizations are looking for ways to woo remote workers back to the office. The Interior Design Show Spring Resiliency Conference examined some of the possibilities with the aptly titled seminar: How Retail Design Should Be Inspiring The New Workplace.

“The retail we knew before, which was really just the place to go for a transaction, has changed just as the workplace will change going forward,” maintained Suzanne Wilkinson, a Principal with the design firm, Figure 3. “The heads-down work is going to happen at home so the purpose of the office is really going to draw people and communities together so we can share our values with one another and create the relationships that build loyalty [to] an organization.”

She and colleague, Mardi Najafi, Figure 3’s Director of Retail Design, explored how their firm’s proprietary principles, which translate brands into physical spaces, might be applied in office settings.

“The unconscious desire to connect influences how we act,” Najafi advised.

With this human-centred approach in mind, retailers like Starbucks placed its tables at the forefront to enable prime people-watching and to inspire passersby to step inside. Others carve out social spaces, like the interactive auditoriums in select Apple stores, to demonstrate how to use products and create space for people to meet and to find informal lessons.

Looking to an office scenario, the Winnipeg-based law firm Thompson Dorfman Sweatman moved its lunchroom to the reception area and makes other office space available for community events. The design, which is accented with local stone, timber and artwork, eschews the typical formality of a legal firm in favour of a bright, open and social environment.

Exciting target groups 

Meanwhile, design and furnishings can trigger emotional connections and memories. In stores, Najafi explained, the goal is to excite retailers’ target groups and turn them into brand ambassadors via Instagram and other platforms.

“This has been a key element, which has reduced ad costs — using the airwaves of social media to broaden brand experience, not just visual, but multi-sensory,” he said.

Engaging and unique in-store experiences have been key to drawing customers. Najafi cited examples such as LiftLab, which offers build-your-own lipstick, or Urban Runners, which recreates textures and surfaces of urban locales to help customers test the performance of shoes they try on. Canada Goose goes a step further, harnessing technology to create cold fitting rooms that replicate harsh winters.

Innovative retailers have also integrated digital into the shopping experience — for example, so that shoppers can employ virtual reality to envision furniture in a space before making a purchase. This leverages the shopper’s own devices for a frictionless journey from the order all the way to checkout.

For now, most workplaces aren’t this advanced on the technology front. “Obviously, there is a huge expense when it comes to integrating technology within a space to make a seamless environment,” Wilkinson acknowledged, but she expects the move to hybrid offices will push and accelerate uptake.

One early example is Ontario Power Generation’s transformation from a cubicle-intensive head office to an open, tech-filled space with a variety of seamless working environments like bookable private booths.

Connecting with a mission

Najafi looks to a digitally savvy “new shopper” who demands convenience, has a shorter attention span, favours authentic connections and expects brands to deliver on their promises as the prototype for today’s in-store customer base.

“The new shopper is not about accumulating points and getting free promotions,” he contended. “They are all about connecting with your brand from a mission standpoint.”

When applying this concept for organizational purposes, the message is geared to employees. For example, at the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation’s Project Sunrise — which set out to create an environment that inspires employees and reflects its mission: “to cure cancer in our lifetime” — visual reminders of the team’s fundraising efforts light up the space through screened stories of patients.

“It’s a very focused approach, but also through messaging, which can be very important to inspiring people every day to stay on task, stay devoted and keep being inspired and working in a healthy environment,” Wilkinson said.

Retailers constantly refresh their environments, knowing that human beings are “hardwired to seek out the new.” In the workplace, that calls for adaptation in step with organizational change, and providing space staff can tailor as they progress through projects, from the collaborative research stage to more focused work.