The Evolution of Stores

Store (noun): a business establishment where usually diversified goods are kept for retail sale

According to Webster, that is the definition of a store in its purest form. Oh how the times have changed. The past decade has brought greater complexity and dimension to the definition of a store. It’s now more than just a place to buy products; it’s a warehouse, a return center, a pick-up location, a showroom, an experiential destination, a fulfillment center, and a community hub. But can a single store be all those things at once? Retailers are being forced to reassess their physical footprint and dial up components of this new definition based on e-commerce sales and operations as well as changing consumer wants and needs.

The Impact of Alternate Fulfillment Methods

One of the biggest catalysts driving this evolution is the increasing demand for and use of alternate fulfillment methods like BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store), curbside pick-up, ship-to-store, and digital return-to-store. US click-and-collect sales were forecast to reach $131.66 billion by 2026, continuing a run of double-digit growth¹. Target’s own filings show the strategy paying off at scale: stores fulfilled 97.6% of the retailer’s sales in Q1 2025². How retailers successfully utilize the store as a fulfillment channel is no longer an option, it’s mandatory.

Revitalizing the Back of House (BOH)

We believe one of the first places retailers must address is their back of house (BOH). The space that we affectionately refer to as the heartbeat of the store is often overlooked as merely a storage space. We encourage brands to "Think Outside the Box" in this POV that dives into the recommendations on how to start treating your BOH like selling space and a key contributor to your dollars per square footage KPI.

Adapting to Changing Shopping Behaviors

Shopping behaviors haven’t settled back into old patterns. A January 2025 Capgemini survey of 12,000+ consumers across 12 countries found 70% have switched brands simply because they enjoy experimenting³, and a June 2025 US study found 7 in 10 adults had switched from a regular brand to an unfamiliar one at least twice in the past year, with 6 in 10 saying they’re more open to trying new brands than they were five years ago⁴. It’s essential for brands to recognize the importance of retaining existing customers, as it’s still roughly five times more costly to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.

Immersive Retail: A New Frontier

Building off this idea of the consumer journey and how consumers are engaging and interacting with brands, we’d be remiss to ignore one of the industry catchphrases that lit up this past year—Immersive Retail. Catalog this one with equally overused phrases like “experiential” and “phygital” and “omni-channel”. However, truly immersive retail is something to explore and delight in. Something that might ignite passion and emotion and pique your interest in new ways. It’s a feeling, an overwhelming moment of awe that shopping (in a store, no less) can still achieve. Our EVP, Creative Jay Highland shares his experience with truly Immersive Retail in this Wayfind article.

Understanding the Customer Journey

We believe our role is to dig deep into the problems that brands are experiencing. Once we identify the issues, then we can explore actionable solutions. One of the best methods to start this process is to get into the store and experience it the way customers do. Shoppers have different expectations because certain kinds of experiences have trained them to expect more from an environment than in decades past. Being a creative catalyst and consultant comes with the responsibility to continually learn by immersing ourselves in stores, restaurants, and other retail spaces to understand the shopper.

The Store of Tomorrow: A Case Study

We started this article with a not so simple question—can a single store be everything (warehouse, return center, pick-up location, showroom, experience, fulfillment center, and community hub) at once? The simple answer is, yes. We had the pleasure of partnering with DICK’S Sporting Goods on the strategy, design and launch of their next-gen concept—House of Sport. A store born out of the changing needs of consumers, “our insights were showing us that while our omnichannel consumption was strong across platforms, our athletes had an increasingly high desire for experience. They wanted the ease and convenience of online, but they also wanted a destination where they could get advice from trusted advisors around the products, try those products out and also participate in activities that support their active lifestyle.” (Toni Roeller, SVP, In-Store Environment at DSG)⁵. The House of Sport concept was built on creating a shopping experience that embraced a try-before-you-buy ethos, providing service to the customers via expert associates, emphasizing a sense of community by encouraging interaction and engagement, and immersing customers in the product via various shop-in-shops.

The Ongoing Evolution of Retail

Will the definition of a store continue to evolve? Most definitely. This is only the beginning. While there is no silver bullet answer or solution, one thing is certain, the customer should be at the center of everything you do.To stay relevant and evolve your retail locations, continuous adoptions to your customers’ demands is essential. Ready to evolve your store but not sure where to start? We’re here to help you navigate this evolving retail landscape. Reach out to us at TalkWithUs@wdpartners.com to learn about our passion for creating meaningful customer experiences for the brands we partner with.