Global architecture firm Callison RTKL predicts the future of retail environments
In a post pandemic retail world, the needs and expectations of consumers have shifted. The 2022 store will therefore, according to global architecture, planning and design firm CallisonRTKL (CRTKL), be about how things feel, fit and function – and digital design, it says, will prove central to leveraging a seamless shopping experience.
Paul Conder, CRTKL’s principal, says in CRTKL’s Forecast 2022 report that physical retail environments will be there to simplify in-person transactions thanks to mobile integration. Digital interactions will focus on the consumer rather than the brand and leverage integrated technology that links to their profile in the metaverse, which seamlessly extends into the physical realm.
Another significant development will see existing anchor stores repurposed into fulfilment warehouses and operational hubs in a big to improve last-mile delivery speed. CRTKL explains that these large, empty anchor spaces are finding new purpose in fulfilling orders and meeting growing sales demand. In this sense, big-box stores on the periphery of urban centres are becoming mini-warehouses that coordinate pick-ups and deliveries.
Closer to town, the firm predicts that urban shopping centres and high streets will find new opportunities to reconnect, recharge and redefine the community by repurposing existing structures and adding new residential, commercial, and hospitality offers into the mix.
The architectural firm’s report highlights updates to planning legislation, such as those made to the Permitted Development rights in England are further incentivising this and shorter, more flexible leasing terms.
This, Conder says, opens up physical retail to non-traditional, independent brands, and local operators, which can now have a presence on the high street. In turn, high streets will benefit from a more unique and diverse mix of offerings that see pure-play retail strips transformed into community hubs for commerce and culture alike.
Meanwhile, the firm predicts that large floorplate department stores will be internally reconfigured to better accommodate community-centric spaces that reflect and support a hybrid lifestyle and the new ways people are living, working, shopping, dining, exercising, socialising, and more.
“Spaces for the new economy, especially department stores, can have different uses at different times of day – from a yoga studio in the morning to events or gallery space in the evening,” says David Cassidy, CRTKL principal and retail practice leader.
“The blend of experiences is critical. A space is productive and profitable when people are engaged and using it, so it is time we think of these environments in constant motion and function, not static and singularly purposed.”
Michelle McCormick, CRTKL principal, adds: “We are creating a kind of framework that allows for, even embraces change. Rather than trying to create the perfect system or retail experience from the outset the ‘store of 2022’ will be something that can evolve without massive cost of environmental impact – it will be change-friendly, fluid and more resilient than what we know today.”
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