When I ask retail clients what they expect to be selling in ten years the truth is nobody really knows. Not exactly. Nor can we predict how customers’ shopping patterns will change- the best we can do is keep up with them.
If designers all had superpowers we could see exactly what’s in store (see what I did there?) but the best thing to do is to design in the flexibility and adaptability to evolve.
Here’s an example of ours. Who could have predicted even two years ago how important convenience retail was going to become and who would be getting in on the game? This bp convenience store at Kingsway in Melbourne was designed as a bp branded forecourt store. Two years later, it’s been refitted to reflect a local need for a quality food offer and a partnership with David Jones Food.
The interesting thing here is that the floor plan and customer flow hasn’t changed. The floor fixtures have been replaced and some of the finishes have been changed. All of the counters, refrigeration and back of house have stayed. But the signs on the front now say David Jones as well as bp and the customer gets a whole new food offer, down to the roast chicken and quinoa salad. Who knew?
It pays to take the future into consideration when designing for the now.