From Jacquemus to Balenciaga: Luxury fashion brands go hyperphysical

ASMR in physical retail adds an appealing element for experience-focused consumers, says Buller. “We haven’t been able to physically touch and interact with things for a while. It is a great way to make people excited again and want them to be in a space.”

While e-commerce is accelerating to offer multi-layered experiences for customers and brands, bricks-and-mortar stores are becoming physical bastions of extraordinary, sensorial moments.

exploring the potential of what have been called hyperphysical stores. The macro trend was identified by The Future Laboratory, a trends and strategy company, to describe retail spaces that are enriching and emotional. They “create a really sensorial and holistically memorable store experience that goes beyond the original idea of retail,” says Abi... See more

At a time when many consumers haven’t fully returned to real-life shopping, hyperphysical retail serves as a draw for younger consumers. Some 56 per cent of global Gen Z shoppers head to physical stores for a fun experience, according to a 2018 survey by IBM and the National Retail Federation, which interviewed 15,600 global consumers between the a... See more

Sales don’t necessarily drive these sensorial pop-ups. “It’s not just about buying,” commented Jacquemus on his Instagram story. “It’s also an experience, a concept. The idea is to break the frontiers in the world of luxury. We want you to come in feeling welcome and have a great experience no matter what you do inside. You can also just walk in an... See more

“Brands are forced to rethink not just the format, location and permanence of their stores but it also begs the question of how to measure their value when you can no longer use sales as a single success metric. It requires brands to look at the full equation,” says PwC’s Windsor.

“It’s very much about how the space makes you feel and how memories can be created there. Physical retail can bring so much to the customer that then the transaction will follow,” observes The Future Laboratory’s Buller. “Online shopping, social commerce, live-stream selling and all of those things have their place. But, in a physical space it’s ab... See more

Designer Simon Porte Jacquemus has reimagined his bathroom, no less, for a retail concept that overloads the senses to playful effect and replicates the sense of humour that ripples through Jacquemus’s Instagram posts.

"Hyperphysical retail at its simplest is multisensory. It leans into the five senses of sight, sound, touch and potentially even smell and taste. That essentially captures what it means to be human,” says Jacqueline Windsor, UK retail leader at PwC and a partner in the Strategy& Deals team. “These pop-ups are a manifestation of that and are in ... See more