The de Villiers chocolate experience : a roll-out sensory retail branding experience strategy

Abstract

More and more, consumers are buying products online as a convenient alternative to traditional shopping. This massive shift means that brick-and-mortar retail stores could eventually become obsolete (Walker, 2014). Although the concept of experience design is already entrenched in the designer stores of first world countries, the developing countries of the world are fast on their heels. As a result, retail design becomes the largest factor in governing the experience of the store, product and brand and needs to be considered carefully by everyone involved in order to create a specific image in the mind of the consumer. Branding, sensory marketing and environmental psychology principles can be used as a basis for the design of a retail roll-out program for De Villiers Chocolate that will create a memorable experience in the mind of the user