Comparing marketing and retail design perspectives
Physical retailers nowadays face several challenges. First, the retail industry is extremely competitive and characterized by a “commoditization” of outlets. Second, the growth of online shopping further increases this competitive pressure. Third, with the rise of connectivity, people can continuously compare retailers resulting in highly value-conscious customers. As a result, physical retailers have to differentiate themselves and create valuable customer experiences. This has led to increased interest in understanding the notion of “value” as it relates to the physical stores.
What stands out is that whether a physical store is “valuable” or not is rather discipline-specific. Indeed, the “value” concept has been examined by several research disciplines and each has provided its own field-specific interpretation. In this paper, we report on a literature review conducted comparing the marketing and retail design perspectives on the value of the physical store. In light of the aforementioned challenges, we believe that both fields could benefit from a better understanding of each other’s viewpoint.