The original article which appeared on insideretail.com.au is available here.

written by Dean Blake

Following the pandemic, bricks-and-mortar retail is back in a big way, but customers don’t want the same-old offering. They want something new.

One business that is meeting the demand for memorable and unique experiences is “transportation company” Teleport, which has launched its first “interdimensional adventure” in Australia, following installations across Hong Kong and Singapore.

Dubbed enLIGHTenment, the installation brings a 400 sqm sci-fi epic to Sydney’s Central Station, where visitors are guided through a number of virtual worlds, including the Cave, a portal to an ancient civilisation, and the Hologram, where body movement controls digital avatars.

The experience is bolstered by the use of AI image generator Stable Diffusion to create an ever-changing “shamanistic” interaction based off of the recorded movement of a dancer. The AI constantly finds new ways of morphing and changing, ensuring every person who experiences it sees something unique.

“I think it’s the first experience ever that’s commercially implementing these technologies into an offline experience,” Teleport founder Edward Eremyan told Inside Retail.

“It’s constantly morphing and changing, and it’s a very beautiful way to connect humans and machines [to] create artwork.”

So far, the customer feedback has been positive, with many people commenting on how new and different the experience is.

“People have been very receptive,” Eremyan said. “We’ve had lots of reviews and everyone has said, ‘This is so different, it’s something I would never expect.’”

While Teleport is not a retail experience per se, there is still a lot that the industry can learn from it. For instance, there are myriad ways to tell stories, and customers are eager to try new things. Brands should not be afraid to experiment with the way they connect with customers.

“What we do is tell stories, and it’s very important for any brand to tell their story,” Eremyan said.

“When it comes to retail, there are so many different ways to shop, and when it comes to physical space, [retailers] have realised that it’s a real luxury to have a person in your space, [who] wants to spend their time with you.

“So, you might want to do your best to give them the best experience you can.”

Learning from the best-in-class

Research shows that customer expectations for in-store shopping experiences have risen since the pandemic. A survey by shopping centre operator Westfield found that by 2025, nearly 60 per cent of customers expect that retail spaces will emphasise experience over products., and 75 per cent expect this to be the case by 2027.

Survey respondents also said that they want 40 per cent of store space dedicated to experiences today.

“Shoppers want to escape from the day-to-day when they shop, which is why they get particularly excited about the idea of escapist experiences,” the report stated.

“Gamified products, environments that make the shopping experience more fun and ones that reward customers on the go … feature highly on shoppers’ want lists.”

While the concept of experiential retail has been around since well before the pandemic, Retail Oasis director Trent Rigby told Inside Retail that it is evolving.

“I think it’s focusing on localising experiences – so rather than delivering a blanket ‘experience’ across all stores, some retailers are doing more localised stores,” he said.

One example Rigby cited was Krispy Kreme’s flagship store in Times Square, New York, where customers can see donuts being made through windows in the back of the store, and also purchase donuts that are exclusive to the Times Square location.

This gives customers a reason to travel to the store and share their experience on social media – which gives the store more reach online.

Another example he gave was Camp, an interactive toy store chain in the US, which delivers integrates various retail elements into what Rigby describes as a kid’s playground,

“You walk in, and there are kids running around playing hide and seek, and playing in the store, and then there are [products to buy] built around that experience,” he said.

“You might walk into another of their stores and it’s just a regular toy store, but they have a hidden wall that opens up to reveal about 70 per cent of the actual floor space – you have to pay to have a guided experience through the store.”

Rigby believes that one of the most important things retailers should be thinking about now is how to bring back the fun of retail.

“With the cost of living and those sorts of pressures going on, it’s a good way to get people back into the store, even in tough times,” he said.