Future Forward: Amplifying Consumer Experiences

During his Future Forward keynote Wednesday morning, neuroscientist and sensory designer Ari Peralta said we’ve entered a new era of sensory design, where retailers use new multisensory integration strategies to engage, distract, extend and comfort their customers.

In our current experiential economy, the focus of retailers is not just to provide quality products, but also to provide transformative shopping experiences.

“Material goods have become diluted in their power to show status; instead, experience is currency,” said Peralta, CEO of Arigami, at the Path to Purchase Institute event in New Orleans. “Adding multisensory cues — those that complement the visual — positively affects shoppers’ emotions, purchase behavior and length of browsing. Wherever there is a human, there are opportunities for sensory design to empower cognitive capital and emotional intelligence.”

To emphasize his point, Peralta shared these numbers:

• The “experience economy” is now worth more than $12 billion-plus.
• 78% of Gen Z and Millennials are choosing to spend money on an experience over products.
• 86% of buyers would pay a premium for a good experience.
• 73% of companies with above average customer experience perform better financially than their competitors.

Furthermore, he said that shoppers stay in a store up to 51% longer in a space with multisensory cues, and 52% of consumers say they’ve abandoned an e-commerce site because its offerings were poorly curated.

“The holy grail of multisensory retail is to weave cues together in a way that’s congruous,” Peralta said.

Arigami, a consultancy, helps its partners “bring harmony to the brain by lining up the right blend of sensory cues in a way that people find beautiful,” Peralta said.

https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/library/consumer-intelligence-series.html

Citing PwC's 2021 customer experience report, he revealed that 65% of respondents in the U.S. feel that a sensory experience with a brand is more influential than great advertising. Additionally, 49% of U.S. respondents say that companies are providing a good sensory experience today. Meanwhile, 74% of companies in China offer in-store sensory experiences.

Peralta shared five trends, or best practices — ways brands turn to neuroscience plus technology to give them an edge with design:

• 3D and depth perception. Naked-eye 3D image technology to create a vivid sense of perspective and depth to the viewer.
• Generative art installations. Allows retail customers to step in, respond to and shape the artwork in their own way, leaving behind a trace of their experience.
• Light plus sound as an experience. Spatial design is similar to surround sound in that it produces an immersive environment, but the immersion is more comprehensive and personalized.
• Nature-like atmospherics. Nature-inspired design that improves multisensory brand experiences for more meaningful emotional connections.
• Mood-based design. Matching products and services to customer needs using smart wearables.