Consumers are increasingly seeking experiences from their living environments, which means a rising demand for mixed-use developments that offer a live/work/play environment.
That’s the key takeaway from JLL‘s 2024 Global Consumer Experience Survey released this month.
JLL calls it the “experience economy,” commercial spaces that don’t just offer consumers products to buy or meals to eat. Instead, the top-performing retail spaces today offer consumers an experience.
What is the experience economy? Think a home-goods retailer that offers cooking lessons or invites celebrity chefs to demonstrate their products. Or bowling alleys and arcades pitched to adults hoping to rewind after a long work week. Or high-end movie theaters that serve chef-quality food during showings of their films.
JLL’s report found that not only do consumers desire these experiences, they are willing to spend more to get them.
“It’s people we ultimately build places for, and understanding what they need first is imperative,” said Lee Daniels, JLL Global Growth and Innovation Lead, Work Dynamics. “By developing comprehensive experience strategies that encompass multiple dimensions, we recognize that it is people who transform places and spaces, while experiences and interactions ultimately shape people.”
JLL surveyed more than 3,200 respondents across the globe. A total of 41% of these respondents strongly agreed with the statement “I am willing to pay a premium for high-quality experiences.” An additional 27% said that they agreed with this statement. Only 10% disagreed while only 10% strongly disagreed. An additional 12% said that they were neutral on the statement.
A total of 49% of respondents strongly agreed with the statement “Cities need to provide new experiences to stay relevant.” An additional 27% agreed, while 7% disagreed and 4% strongly disagreed.
These responses indicate that a large number of consumers are eager for more opportunities to connect with others in meaningful ways, JLL says in its report.
“Forward-looking new development projects should consider how to enable greater social connectivity within individual buildings and throughout multi-building development campus locations,” said Peter Miscovich, JLL Global Future of Work Lead, Work Dynamics.
“For example, organizations can develop an integrated employee experience based upon leading consumer experience practices by treating their employees in the same manner as they would treat high-value customers.”
The most successful retailers will continue to focus on both their online and physical stores, JLL says.
According to the survey, 75% of consumers report feeling satisfied with online shopping experiences. But the survey also finds that people still enjoy shopping in a physical store. A total of 64% of respondents said that they prefer shopping in-person versus online.
“Developers, investors and occupiers are seeing increased demand for ‘destination’ places and spaces, as consumers expect increased choice and quality in the places where they live, work and visit,” said Ruth Hynes, JLL’s EMEA Work Dynamics Research and Strategy Director.
“And this is where we are seeing increased demand for research and data in planning and development, to unlock insights into consumer expectations across real estate. In increasingly complex environments, research and data-driven strategies for human-centric developments are more important than ever.”
