AI, Retail Design, And The Future Of In-Person Brand Experiences

As retail reclaims its role as a space for real-life connection and not just commerce, brands are reimagining their physical spaces not just as stores, but stages with consumers at the center. Immersive in-person experiences have emerged as one of the most effective ways to build brand equity and loyalty in an increasingly digital world, forcing brands to rethink their use of spatial design for optimal experiences. At the heart of this evolution lies AI, which is quickly becoming a catalyst for helping brands forge emotional, lasting bonds with consumers.

When Tech Powers Emotion

A clear shift is happening in the brand-consumer relationship, with interactions becoming more about experience and community-building rather than transaction. Brands are starting to place culture and emotion, rather than products, at the heart of their ecosystem. To do so, they are increasingly turning to physical spaces: pop-ups, cafés, curated exhibitions, or hybrid stores blending product displays with services. This dynamic is influencing how experiential design comes to life. Daan Lucas, founder of Random Studio, a design studio based in Paris and Amsterdam with nearly 20 years of experience, tells us: “We see brands looking to relate to consumers in a different way. Exchanges can no longer just be about a brand anymore: now, we see spaces turning into theaters where consumers can become actors and play with a brand.” Generative AI, as it turns out, is proving to be key in delivering such experiences.

In this sense, tech is becoming a powerful, value-added tool rather than a gimmicky centerpiece. Incorporating AI into experiential design can transport consumers into a brand ecosystem that goes far beyond the traditional, transactional shopping journey. Last year, Nike developed, in partnership with Random Studio, an in-store installation focused on wellbeing at its House of Innovation in Paris. The activation let visitors embark on a meditation journey powered by AI. In a dedicated space where lighting went from cool to warm, individuals were invited to start breathwork, guided by the tempo of lighting: a blueish resting rate to a rosy pink as the exercise progressed, made possible by a thermal camera that tracked changes in breath rate. This experience gave customers the opportunity to take a break and meditate at their own rhythm, encouraging them to think about wellness, not just sports and movement, when interacting with the Nike brand.

Incorporating AI into spatial design enables brands to offer memorable, interactive moments that shift the focus from transaction to connection. “We see AI as a way to connect with people in a way that goes beyond a commercial moment. Technology makes people forget about themselves for a minute and relate to a space and moment, which can feel magical,” says Lucas. Experience becomes the product, and emotional impact the currency. His studio’s installation for Glossier’s Paris pop-up two months ago perfectly embodies this notion of sensorial experience and emotional connection to a brand or product.

Glossier’s temporary pop-up was built to showcase its latest fragrance launch, for which Random Studio designed a retail experience meant to stimulate the senses and spark an emotional connection, subtly echoing the role of a fragrance. When visitors picked up the bottle of perfume, a camera captured their facial and body expression and sent it to ChatGPT for it to create a poem based on the visitor’s clothing, presence, and expression, surprising them with a unique touch. Here, the use of AI and technology was very subtle, designed to provide a romanticized, personalized sensorial experience for consumers.

These applications are just a teaser of how AI can elevate brand activations and provide quality, memorable experiences to consumers.

AI Is Shaping The Future Of Retail Design

While AI has been integrated into retail spaces and visual merchandising for some time now, its applications in experiential design are only beginning to shape the future of brand experiences. Tech-driven activations like projection mapping (a technology that turns surfaces into dynamic displays) and motion tracking are now being enhanced by AI to deliver a new standard of in-person customer experiences. Stores can have visuals that adapt in-real time based on customer demographic and environmental factors and project imagery that is adaptive and relevant to an audience. AI-powered motion tracking enables highly interactive, personalized gamified interactions leveraged today mostly by sports brands to allow customers to engage differently with a brand and its products.

As more brands continue to experiment and adopt the technology, stores will become more interactive and agile, evolving with their visitors to deliver seamless personalization and enjoyment. “Stores will start behaving like digital spaces — they’ll become more dynamic. They can respond to the rhythm of the sun throughout the day and adapt their behavior depending on whether there’s one person in the store or many. Sound and lighting can shift accordingly,” explains Lucas.

For the launch of Chanel’s newest watch, Random Studio helped integrate AI into the scenography and the physical space, combining inputs and outputs so that scents, audio, and screen content were all linked and the time of day defined the atmosphere. This resulted in the entire flagship space changing in terms of light, sound, and content to create an unexpected, interactive experience that appealed to all senses and gave Chanel the opportunity to create a lasting impact on visitors. Not only did this application help create a differentiated, memorable brand immersion, it also shows how stores have the potential to become highly adaptive and relevant to customers in real time. Already, retailers should be able to display specific products on in-store digital screens based on live weather, showcase product recommendations according to current social media buzz, make custom style recommendations depending on a visitor’s outfit…and much more.

As consumers increasingly expect and value personalized brand experiences, from product recommendations to brand interactions, retail design will play a crucial role in delivering distinct experiences that boost awareness and drive lasting impact in consumers’ minds.

Generative AI is becoming central to powering new standards of in-person brand experiences. The most innovative and forward-thinking brands are already experimenting with it to turn physical spaces into emotionally charged, ever-evolving environments that build lasting impressions with consumers. For brands that wish to build a connection with their audience, investing in physical activations isn’t enough. The future of brand experiences will run on AI, not for the sake of technology, but as a creative partner in storytelling, experiential design and emotional connection.