The Art and Science of Design
This week’s Convenience Matters takes a behind-the-scenes look at how stores create emotional connections with customers.
Dec 12, 2018
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – On this week’s episode of Convenience Matters, “Designing Delight,” hosts Jeff Lenard of NACS and Donovan Woods of the Fuels Institute, talk design with Joe Bona, president of Bona Design Lab Inc.
“For me, it’s what [stores] do to me emotionally when I walk in … the front door,” Bona said. “Am I inspired? If it’s a food store, do I gain an appetite or lose an appetite? Do I understand what their offer is? If I’m in a nonfood store, do I really want to explore this?”
Bona pointed out that no one design aspect connects with a customer, but that “it’s a combination of all those things that creates that ambience and the right feel that drives the motivation to want to shop.”
The discussion focused on New York retail because of how trendy the city tends to be. “New York is a living lab for anything retail,” Bona said, adding that it’s important for retailers to tell a story with their design with their choices in colors, materials, woods and lighting to infuse a sense of belonging to customers when they walk through the doors.
To achieve that, retailers should focus on their special hook. “How do you deliver that? That becomes a function of layout,” he suggested.
Each week a new Convenience Matters episode is released. The podcast can be downloaded on iTunes, Google Play and other podcast apps, and at www.conveniencematters.com. Episodes have been downloaded by listeners more than 60,000 times in 80 countries.
