Experiential characteristics of retail real estate

City centres must offer a greater 'experience' in order to continue attracting consumers. But how do you add experience to a city-centre shopping area? And can we measure the influence of experience on the economic performance of retail locations? These questions form the key elements in a research program that TIAS School for Business and Society implemented together with TU/e and the Dutch Council of Shopping Centres (NRW).

Image: © Nationale Beeldbank

The study establishes a relationship between the physical characteristics of the shopping environment and consumers' appreciation of the shopping area. We conclude that in addition to the range of shops and accessibility, aspects such as the material used for paved areas, the design of show windows and the level of lighting significantly influence consumers' appreciation of the shopping area.

The sense of place of a shopping location, or the emotional value that a consumer attaches to a place, was also taken into consideration. It emerged that an attractive shopping location need not automatically be a location with which a consumer has an emotional bond.