Microsoft – Enhancing Retail Experience through Strategic Retail Design

Driving engagement through service design and brand experience
  • Retail Strategy and Design
  • Brand Engagement
  • Customer Experience
  • Service Design
  • Reading time: 2 Minutes

Reimagining retail engagement without direct sales

How can retail flourish without traditional product sales? Microsoft’s Digital Eatery in Berlin presented a unique challenge: creating a retail experience entirely centered on brand engagement and digital innovation. Rlevance was commissioned to evolve the existing retail design strategy into a space where visitors could experience Microsoft’s brand and services without feeling the pressure of sales.

Holistic insights to guide the retail design strategy

To address this challenge, Rlevance undertook comprehensive research and analysis. Through workshops and in-depth interviews with Microsoft’s internal teams, customers, and external digital experts, we gained crucial insights into expectations, behaviors, and future-oriented digital needs. Additionally, our global study of innovative retail experiences informed a typology of engaging retail spaces, setting the foundation for our strategic approach.
microsoft retail design strategy typology of brand spaces

Strategic direction and design principles

In the strategic phase, collaborative workshops with interdisciplinary Microsoft teams helped refine the existing retail design strategy. Together, we prioritized key visitor segments and crafted a compelling brand idea, positioning the Digital Eatery as a dynamic sub-brand offering meaningful interactions rather than transactions. Clear design principles emerged to guide the physical space and experience.

Enhancing the Retail Experience

The final stage was marked by creative implementation. Rlevance developed an operational concept comprising services, activities, events, and exhibitions designed explicitly to enhance visitor engagement and brand experience. The Digital Eatery thus became a vibrant, service-oriented environment where Microsoft’s innovative digital solutions were demonstrated practically and engagingly, creating tangible value for visitors and strengthening their connection to the brand.

Are you faced with similar corporate challenges? We would love to hear about them.

Rlevance created a strategic and creative framework, alongside with ideas to implement it, that helped us to engage visitors deeper with Microsoft’s unique ideas. Both approach and result were beyond our expectations and invigorated the initial concept of The Digital Eatery to a great extend.

Henrik Tesch

Director Corporate Affairs, Microsoft

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