We came across an article this week, written by Kevin Moore, CEO of Crossmark Australia, which talks about the experience of retail shopping. It draws upon Paco Underhill’s latest book, The Call of the Mall, which presents the concept of “retail theatre”.
In the article, ‘Shopping should start in the carpark’, Moore discusses car manufacturer Peugeot’s Blue Box concept; a re-branding and retail design project which is designed to be as emotionally alluring as aesthetically stunning; giving consumers a true feel of the design principles underlying the brand before they even walk into the dealership, or get into a car for a test drive.
The application of this concept of ‘retail theatre’ to car parks is discussed with, for example, Westfield looking to invest and reinvent its shopper experience – from the outside of the building to the inside of the car park.
For car park owners and operators, from global players to smaller local operations, there are likely to be significant learnings that can be applied to improve the retail experience for customers, including the aesthetics of the car park. For more information, you may wish to look at a previous PCI blog post, ‘Could your car park benefit from a face lift’, or read the full article; ‘Shopping should start in the car park’.