"Experiential design should be an ongoing phenomenon in retail"

As one of the last sessions on day two of In-Store Asia 2016, at Pragati Maidan - New Delhi, a panel discussion on the topic'Evolution in role of the new age retail experience designer' was held. Moderated by Surender Gnanaolivu, Sr Consutant Retail Experience & Consulting Editor - VM&RD, the panelists included Sudhir Soundalgekar, Director Projects, Raymonds; Sasikumar Ramaswamy, Sr VP Store Design and Projects, Landmark Group and Vishal Kapoor, Chief Design Officer - Future Group India Ltd. Each of the panelists discussed on what retail companies must to do to get future ready and the changing role of the store.

Sasikumar gave the audience a brief on global happenings in store environments which is moving towards younger customer trends, phy-gital environments, minimalistic, neutral, energy efficient, right costs, flexibility and high quality of execution.   

On the other hand, Sudir Soundalgekar shared some good news with the design fraternity by saying that physical stores are slated to rise in the near future. "Everybody has to gear up for this demand and offer captivating new designs,” he added. Speaking about revolution in store design, he also took the audience through the design innovations at Raymonds' new store in Bangalore.

In his brief presentation, Vishal Kapoor threw light on five observations and five insights. He gave  five macro changes in retail which included - The age of millennials, End of cookie cutter approach,  Dramatic shift in dialogue vs broadcast, IOT - physical & beyond seamlessness and importance of engagement.

Following their discussion on the new role of retail experience designer, the panelists came to the conclusion that designers must have the spirit to collaborate and integrate with people from other disciplines like marketing & IT. They stressed that experiential design should be an ongoing phenomenon in retail.