Interactivity in stores has come a long way. Remember listening stations at the record store? While technically speaking they still count as an interactive experience, they don’t really compare to walking into a store and creating your own music on a table-top touch-screen device that will help you build a song and record it onto your MP3 player. While the recent financial crisis may have forced many businesses into retreat, others are going the other way entirely, using this time to develop sophisticated new ways of luring customers back into their stores.
"If being creative and innovative in attracting and retaining customers is a good quality to have when times are good, it is imperative when times are tough," says Cristiane Ross, Retail Performance Business Development Manager for Synovate. "In the midst of the gloomy economic scenario, retailers need a fresh set of ideas – for store location, layout, interior design, visual merchandising and product mix – to attract consumers, increase footfall and get the tills ringing again."