Places to shop
For us it all started with retail design. We have over 25 years of experience in creating new retail concepts and formats. From strategy to full design, and roll-out support including instore communication and signage.
The essence of retail design
Retail design is about strategically utilizing space, lay-out and routing, lighting, materials, merchandising and communication to guide consumer behavior and foster a connection between the customer and the brand.
So, effective retail design goes beyond mere aesthetics. It is besides a commercial tool, all about storytelling and creating an atmosphere that resonates with consumers on an emotional level. Ultimately effective retail design is a key factor in the success of a retail business.
Online to offline retail
As spatial designers, we strongly believe in the power of both online and offline retail, and that they should be connected and amplify each other. We strive to create seamless O2O retail environments by connecting online and offline and by looking at the whole customer experience and its customer journeys. A store is simply a physical touchpoint in this.
Different look, same feel
Today, the retail experience is formed by so much more than just the store. Of course, for some brands a unified formula is useful for many reasons. But in times where shopping is more and more about seduction and experience, we strongly believe that retail design is about a different look, but same feel. Not copying the same look everywhere. The physical store offers the chance to differentiate, tell unique stories, and surprise customers in every branch they visit.
Seamless retail formats
The days of thinking in fixed retail formats are over. Technology makes it possible for retail organizations to create optimally tailored stores to the needs of its customers, both in services and assortment, online and offline. To address this, we developed the ‘seamless format approach’, a modular approach to store development to create ultimate flexibility and scalability to address fast changing customer needs.
Sustainable and circular retail design
Unlike the traditional economy, where raw materials are extracted, processed into products, and discarded after use, the circular economy aims to reduce, reuse, repair, recycle, and renew materials and products as much as possible. As designers, we can play a significant role in this process with the right design approach.
Our vision is to join the movement towards a more circular and eco-friendly industry and take our clients along the journey. We invite clients to join us in making thoughtful retail design choices, emphasizing the longevity of materials, rethinking waste and prioritizing local solutions in our projects and the wider industry.
Our retail expertise in other fields
Retail is all about thinking and designing from a customer’s perspective. It is about what do they want or need and how do they think, act and buy. This means human-centered design has always been in our DNA, long before it became a buzzword.
Also, our business approach in our assignments stems from our retail experience. After all, retail is always about clear objectives. Be it sales figures or customer satisfaction rates.
For a retail brand the shop is mainly really nothing more than a management tool. This is how we like to see our work as well. A tool to realize ambitions and goals.
Finally, retail is making a brand and its offer physical, tangible and experienceable. We therefore always design from a brand or an organization’s identity.
More?
Check our
work. You can contact us at
hello@c-e.design or +31 20 428 0000.
