Digital twins are reshaping how stores are designed and experienced

Virtual and augmented reality technologies are transforming retail by enabling digital twins of physical spaces, offering immersive shopping experiences without the limitations of traditional brick-and-mortar stores. This evolution represents a significant shift in how consumers interact with products and brands, combining the convenience of e-commerce with the experiential aspects of in-person shopping that many consumers still crave.

The big picture: AR/VR and digital twin technologies are addressing fundamental challenges in retail design by creating virtual shopping environments that replicate and enhance the in-store experience.

• What was once science fiction (like the digital clothing selection system in the 1995 film “Clueless”) has evolved into sophisticated technology with practical applications for modern retail.
• These technologies enable consumers to virtually browse physical spaces like bookstores that may no longer exist in their neighborhoods due to e-commerce competition.

Why this matters: Traditional retail design involves extensive planning, significant investment, and limited flexibility once implemented.

• According to Alex Levin of design firm L+R, discovering layout or design problems after implementation creates costly “nightmare scenarios” for businesses.
• Spatial computing technologies allow retailers to test designs virtually before physical implementation, potentially saving substantial time and resources.

The problem with traditional retail: Physical store design requires meticulous planning with limited room for error or adaptation.

• Grocery stores and other retailers invest considerable resources in strategic product placement, such as positioning essential items at store peripheries to maximize customer exposure to other products.
• The lengthy planning-to-implementation pipeline creates significant business risk if designs prove ineffective in practice.

The virtual solution: Digital twins and AR/VR provide retailers with tools to create immersive shopping experiences that blend digital convenience with physical browsing.

• Virtual stores can recreate the tactile experience of browsing books or other products while existing entirely in digital space.
• These technologies allow retailers to rapidly prototype and test store layouts before committing to physical construction.

Industry applications: Major brands including Louis Vuitton, GE, Estée Lauder, and Hilton are already working with design firms like L+R to implement these technologies.

• The applications extend beyond just mimicking physical stores to creating entirely new shopping paradigms that weren’t possible in traditional retail.
• These virtual environments may help preserve valued shopping experiences that are disappearing from physical landscapes due to e-commerce competition.