Experiential Shopping: When the In-Store Sensory Experience Boosts Your Sales

Experiential Shopping: When the In-Store Sensory Experience Boosts Your Sales

In-store, spontaneous purchasing doesn’t just depend on the products being sold, but on the experience offered to customers. Sensory, emotional, and memorable, this experience has the power to transform simple curiosity into a buying decision…

‍

When Associative Memory Shapes Buying Decisions

We tend to believe that our purchasing decisions are dictated by rational mechanisms. Yet scientific research shows that our memories of past experiences strongly influence our future buying behaviors, through associative memory. In other words: if a brand is linked in our mind to a positive emotion, we are more likely to choose it.Furthermore, according to a study published by Princeton University, the “mediatization” of a moment taking photos or filming can actually diminish its impact on memory. What we experience “fully” imprints itself better than what we capture. In experiential retail, it’s therefore crucial to design experiences that can be directly accessed through the senses in vivo experiences that reinforce brand and product recall.

‍

The Power of Multisensory Engagement

It has been demonstrated that a story told in a multisensory way with sounds, images, and even scents is remembered better than a story only heard. The more senses the experience engages, the more likely it is to anchor itself deeply in memory.In stores, brands can offer various sensory setups: soft lighting, subtly rhythmic music, a fragrance floating in the air, free samples for tactile exploration… Each of these stimuli must remain consistent with the brand’s universe. Studies show that congruence between sensory modalities such as when a sound aligns meaningfully with an image enhances encoding and therefore memorization. Behind a brand’s identity guidelines lies more than an aesthetic concern: this identity is in fact the foundation of a genuine cognitive strategy.

‍

The “Peak-End Rule”: A Key Neuromarketing Concept

The “peak-end rule” refers to a cognitive bias according to which we don’t remember an experience in its entirety (or on “average”), but mainly two key moments: its emotional peak and its conclusion. This phenomenon is explained by how our memory prioritizes intense sequences over a continuous flow. Identified by Nobel Prize–winning economist Daniel Kahneman, this effect can be harnessed to design experiences where a high point and a positive ending leave a lasting imprint in customers’ memories. A sensory experience is therefore not just a succession of stimuli, but a dramaturgy. It must combine emotional intensity with a carefully designed finale. For example, you might structure the in-store journey around an emotional high point (e.g., discovering an innovative product through an immersive multisensory demo) and a “happy ending” (e.g., personalized packaging with a small complimentary sample at checkout). This amplifies the durability of the positive impression, the perceived value for customers, and their desire to return.

‍

From Emotion to Purchase

Consumer psychology research shows that the experiential context can increase the likelihood of an unplanned purchase from 46% to 93%. In other words, it isn’t just need that triggers buying, but the experience itself. The positive emotion created by sensory staging works as a mental shortcut in the decision-making process: the perceived value of the product increases, recall is reinforced, and the purchase becomes almost “natural.” The act is not dictated by necessity, but by a kind of emotional resonance.

‍

Experiential Retail: Designing Memories, Not Just Displays

Brands that have understood this no longer limit themselves to showcasing products in their stores. Instead, they orchestrate experiences sometimes co-created with sound design agencies such as Ircam Amplify. This might take the form of an interactive sound journey, a multisensory immersion, a scenography, or a product demo ritual, where each customer becomes an active participant in a unique experience.

The challenge isn’t just to capture attention in the moment, but to leave a lasting mark in memory. Because it is this imprint this memory that drives repeat purchases, loyalty, and the long-term value of your brand.

‍