Trends in Retail: Retailers today are more focused on the experience than the transaction - July 2025
By Jessica Chevalier
Further, many retailers are incorporating a focus on wellness, especially as it relates to creating a positive experience within the retail space. These factors and others require that flooring bring more to the table than utility, contributing to the narrative of the retail environment with their aesthetics, acoustics, comfort and sustainability stories.
The big picture
“Retail has been reimagined as a place to feel something-not just buy something,” explains Oxana Dallas, principal designer, commercial, for AHF Products. “In a world where selling used to mean shouting the loudest, a new mindset is emerging, one that prioritizes emotion over promotion, presence over pressure. Today’s most forward-thinking spaces invite us to linger, not rush. They’re not just stores-they’re curated environments built for exploration, comfort and connection. It’s no longer about pushing products. It’s about creating moments worth returning to. Discovery is the goal, storytelling the strategy. Design becomes the quiet guide.”
In 2025, retail construction is expected to grow 17% to around $24 billion in projects, reports Kent Clauson, vice president of marketing operations for Patcraft, with over half of these projects being remodels. New construction is largely in areas with fast-growing populations, including Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Phoenix, Arizona; and Nashville, Tennessee.
It’s also important to recognize the human component of retail sector growth. Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, contributing $5.3 trillion to annual GDP and supporting more than one in four U.S. jobs, or 55 million working Americans, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). “In terms of direct economic contribution…there were nearly 4.6 million retail establishments in 2022, which accounted for 11.1% of all business establishments in the country,” the NRF reports.
De-commoditizing
The advent and widespread adoption of online shopping posed a stiff challenge for brick-and-mortar retailers, many of which are yet working through strategies aimed at providing omnichannel experiences that are complementary rather than combative. Those that have evolved have had a better shot at survival than those that held to outdated approaches, some of which include old, unattractive and uninspiring spaces; expansive, unkempt offerings; and poor service from harried workers.
“An interesting trend that retailers are tapping into is the creation of places to foster human and social connections,” says Ben Wojcikiewicz, senior director–segment strategy, workplace and retail for Mohawk Group. “When you look at design strategies for retail, especially small retailers, and considering tariffs, price compression and inflation, it’s tough to pull people out of the big box, so independents and smaller retailers have to de-commoditize by creating experiences that pull people in.”
De-commoditizing involves taking the focus off price and making the purchase the natural conclusion of the experience that the space offers.
It’s interesting to consider that the experiential or de-commoditized approach has long been utilized at the higher end of the retail market, where retailers offer elevated service, luxury finishes and furnishings, and perks like espresso bars, champagne or personalization offerings to create cushy, couture experiences.
“Retail is stepping back into elegance-and turning up the drama. More than a retail space, it’s a curated apartment of curves and poetry,” says Dallas. “At the forefront is the newly opened Printemps Department Store in New York’s Financial District-a sensorial playground imagined by French designer Laura Gonzales. More than a store, it’s a sculpted apartment of flowing forms, rich textures and poetic detail. No harsh edges. No sterile minimalism. Just pure, decorative indulgence.”
Dallas draws a picture of the highest manifestation of experiential retail, but what does that mean for the retailer serving the masses?
While clicking a few computer keys and having items dropped at your front door is the ultimate convenience, it’s much more suited for some types of shopping than others. Who among us isn’t, at this point, tired of hauling returns back to a drop-off spot and waiting for the replacement to appear a week or so later? With items like clothing and shoes, the convenience of online shopping can quickly spiral into inconvenience and set consumers yearning for the simpler days of shuffling through the rack for several sizes and leaving with the right fit in hand.
That’s where brick-and-mortar locations can provide a respite with a pleasant, engaging in-store experience.
“One of the key things we are finding,” adds Derrell Jackson, director of segment for Tarkett, “is that in-store is sought by 28% to 30% of Gen Z and Millennials. The older generation’s preference for in-store is 46%. For Gen Z and Millennials, research shows that more of them want to have engagement if they are coming in-store. Sephora, for instance, has been testing bringing in augmented reality to experience its products.”
“Gen Z and Millennial consumers crave that experiential perspective because they are so connected to the digital world,” says Shelly Davis, national retail segment vice president for Tarkett. “It’s interesting to see how retailers engage with the in-person shopper, offering athletic or yoga classes so that the merchandise becomes secondary.”
Part of that immersion includes offering ease of shopping no matter how consumers choose to engage, and, to this end, stores will incorporate pickup lockers and drive-thru lanes or offer to-and-from shipping from the store, says Clauson, adding, “Retail is bouncing back by updating stores rather than building new ones. Brands are focused on making shopping easier, faster and more enjoyable-whether that’s online, in-store or both. Expect to see more remodels, new store formats and creative use of existing spaces through 2026 and beyond.”
The customer service part is also key. Jason Hitchcock, vice president of strategic accounts for Shaw Contract, points to the Chick-fil-A slogan, “My pleasure.” He notes, “It creates a community of appreciation. It says, I’m here to help and serve rather than simply facilitate.”
He points to another interesting approach to service at high-end retailers in which employees escort visitors through the store, billing the action a personalized experience when, at its core, it’s as much an anti-theft measure.
Wojcikiewicz believes that this marks an exciting time for designers of retail spaces, as they are faced with looking at the physical store in a whole new way. He points to an outdoor mall in the Atlanta area that renovated its courtyard to incorporate a large TV, which shows local sports events and the like, and an area for yoga. The space provides an opportunity for the community to come together, and if they happen to stop by Lululemon for a new pair of yoga pants after a class, all the better.
Says Terri Marion, product manager for AHF’s Crossville tile brand, “Retail design has become a powerful storytelling tool, and flooring is integral to that story. It’s not just about aesthetics-it’s about performance, durability and how the material contributes to the overall feel of a space. Retailers want floors that do more than just support the space; they want surfaces that enhance it. Whether the goal is elegance, warmth or bold personality, the right flooring can amplify a brand’s identity and create a memorable customer experience.
When it emerged, asserts Hilary Frank, vice president of commercial sales and business development for Dal-Tile, the idea of experiential retail was a bit one-dimensional, “but now retailers are considering how design affects the consumer from an emotional perspective. Do they feel immersed? They are introducing technology to help consumers make decisions and pairing that with the design.”
A space that speaks
Building a retail space that creates chatter and keeps customers coming back isn’t a one-size-fits-all effort, so flooring providers must offer a wide range of materials and aesthetics that suit a broad variety of styles, providing retail clients the opportunity to design a retail space that tells the story the brand wants to share.
For a commodity or warehouse-style retailer, that might be polished concrete-as it communicates the value proposition accurately. But for retailers who aren’t peddling on price, the right floor is key to setting the tone early. By and large, hard surface accounts for a lot of square footage in retail. Hard surface offers the durability and cleanability that many retailers are seeking for these high-traffic spaces.
Creating the right look is often at the top of priorities for flooring selection, as it is a key element of brand building. But that doesn’t mean priorities around cost, sustainability, performance, cleanability, lifecycle, comfort underfoot, safety and acoustics are lesser priorities. In fact, today’s retail sector clients want a floor that is the total package. And oftentimes that “package” includes even more factors than before, one of those being the country of origin.
“Prior to Covid, we never really had a large contingent of folks asking whether products were domestic or imported,” says Hitchcock. “But the fallout of the Covid supply chain-which is now more of a tariff-driven discussion-is that customers today are prioritizing domestic versus imported, and I think it’s as much about the serviceability of the supply chain as patriotism.”
The priorities of a retailer today are multi-faceted. “For most of our customers today, it is an equation rather than an answer,” says Johnson. “Cost is an impact for everyone today. What we are seeing is that what used to be the cost-first model is now the experience-first model, so the aesthetic is no longer an afterthought but a key component of the brand and experience they want to create. For the most part, they start with that and work their way back to determine how to achieve that with the available dollar.”
Davis notes that LVT is the primary flooring of choice at retail, reporting, “We are seeing retailers shift from natural woods and stones to LVT because they want to keep the same retail footprint but need to lower costs. They may add walk-off carpet at entrances to protect their investment and feature areas with area rugs or carpet tile designs that align with their brands.”
Jackson says that, in 2025, an estimated 70% of retail square footage goes to LVT and notes that one of the great features of LVT that its wide array of aesthetics allows retailers to create a truly differentiated look.
Davis reports that she is beginning to see retailers cover polished concrete. “It’s not a widespread trend, but some retailers are starting to understand how their merchandise looks on an inconsistent concrete floor versus LVT flooring that looks higher end,” she says. “The most realistic-looking LVT will win the spec.” She also points out that concrete is hard underfoot-a negative for both shoppers and workers.
Frank concurs, noting that “retailers have found poured floors won’t live through the lifecycle of a renovation, and they are pivoting back to porcelain or something more durable [than polished concrete].”
Porcelain-wise, large formats are popular with retailers, both for their sophisticated look and the appeal of fewer grout lines from both a practical and aesthetic perspective, as grout has long been the weak point of porcelain installations. As with other surfaces, Frank notes a preference for porcelains that are warmer and more natural-looking, catering to the preference for biophilic design. Terrazzo looks are also popular, often as a replacement for polished concrete.
“With the rise of immersive and luxury-driven retail design, we’re seeing demand for high-performing products like large-format porcelain tiles and terrazzo-inspired looks that deliver both style and strength,” says Marion. “These materials elevate the space while holding up to the demands of high-traffic environments.”
Wojcikiewicz reports that he is seeing more modularity in fixtures so that retailers can change the configuration of the experience. In these cases, the flooring must enable ease of maneuvering and is often preferred to “disappear,” allowing the fixtures and goods displayed on them to take center stage.
Johnson notes that many retailers use “a mix of hard and soft surface in their locations as part of their experiential process. Hard surface may be used for wayfinding, to create the ‘racetrack,’ whereas soft is used in areas of the store where they want to create a more residential feel-in the shoe try-on area or the customer side of the jewelry counter.”
“Flooring can play a role in creating zones, offering adaptability in the space that helps guide the consumer through the experience,” says Frank.
In terms of soft surface, carpet tile accounts for more square footage than broadloom, though broadloom is still used by retailers appealing to a more aged clientele, like at Red Lobster, for instance.
Area rugs are increasing in popularity in retail spaces, particularly in luxury retail and also in banks. Mannington recently received a $5 million order for area rugs from Nordstrom and reports that there is notable demand for high-end, hand-woven rugs.
One key to recommending the appropriate specification for retail is understanding the outlook of the end user and aligning that with a product with the appropriate lifecycle. While it is obviously problematic to put a floor with an expected five-year lifecycle in a space that won’t be remodeled for ten years, it is equally irresponsible to recommend a ten-year spec for a five-year space, both wasting the clients’ capital and potentially lifting and trashing a floor with five years of life left in it. Wojcikiewicz notes, “If you have a product that has a service life of 15 years and you tear it out in five, you have tripled the footprint.”
How the space suits its users is another sustainability concern. “If spaces are too busy, have glare or patterns that are distracting, it won’t be a welcome space to neurodiverse people, which is close to 30% of the population,” says Jackson. “While not spoken about as much in retail as workplace, designers must consider this.”
The concepts of designing for neurodiversity are making their way from the healthcare and workplace sectors into other commercial spaces, such as retail. While there aren’t any scientific studies behind whether design for neurodiversity encourages sales, retailers are leaning into the idea that a calming environment, which neurodiverse design yields, can do nothing but benefit both workers and shoppers, leading both to more purchases and more purchase intent, as shoppers will leave the space with a positive feeling that will pull them back to the space again.
“It is easy to explain the benefits of fractals for healing in healthcare and education, and taking that into retail and finding that throughline is something we think is interesting,” says Wojcikiewicz. Fractal patterns, recurring shapes at different scales, are found throughout nature (consider the pine cone) and have been found to promote calm and relaxation in humans.
Activity
Davis reports that activity is currently equally divided between renovation and new construction and notes that a good portion of current construction is for mixed-use.
Well-financed retailers are the operations more likely to be embarking on new construction right now-PGA Tour Superstores and Books-A-Million, for instance.
With the ability to access loans more challenging due to higher interest rates, those without a good flow of funding are sticking to refreshes and remodels. “We still have a lot of brands renovating,” reports Frank. “Regardless of the economy, brands want to stay relevant.”
There are also brands that need a new space but don’t have the capital or will to build, and, for those, the story is mixed. “We are seeing a dichotomy in retail currently; there are really historically low vacancy rates, but the cost of capital is very high, making it hard for retailers to finance new builds, so bankruptcies-Big Lots, Joann, Party City and others-are creating opportunity for other retailers,” says Johnson.
Johnson points out that with the tariffs causing a percentage of inventory to increase in cost and the cost of operations also rising, some brands may begin to allocate monies differently, with renovation often a part of these considerations.
Business perspective
Wojcikiewicz recently attended an International Council of Shopping Centers convention, where representatives from CBRE and JBL-major retail real estate developers-reported that their approach to the current uncertainty isn’t to pull back but to keep developing until something happens. “People with the money to do renovations are doing them,” Wojcikiewicz reports. In fact, remodel activity is high. “Even spaces that were new a few years ago are remodeling,” he adds.
He continues, “There is so much noise. You have to keep moving until something actually happens and then react. There is not a lot of runway to help customers through price increases, but we are dealing with it.”
“The retail sector is surprising healthy for EF’s commercial business,” says James Lesslie, president and COO of Engineered Floors. “Amazon is not negatively impacting the business as many might believe. We are seeing strong opportunities with both national chains and smaller retailers.”
Davis has noted a bit of acceleration in regard to the remodel cycle in retail. This depends, of course, on the retailer and their revenue steam. If a standard cycle for a full remodel is ten to 15 years, there is often a refresh around the seventh year, which may include flooring.
In addition, Davis reports an uptick in the speed of the specification process, which she attributes to increased demand to meet consumers’ ever-changing tastes as well as competition. She notes, “The speed to market is really important for retail. They need to catch the consumer when they can.”
One tool in helping to catching the consumer while the iron is hot is Tarkett’s Smart Flooring, used by retailers to develop consumer analytics. With Smart Flooring, retailers can track consumer pathways, dwell time in front of displays, traffic bottlenecks, fitting room activity, wait times at the checkout and more.
Hot retailers
“We are seeing the off-price retailer really thrive,” says Davis. “High-quality merchandise at good prices is attracting the budget shopper. There is lots of growth there. Luxury retail is also expanding. One example is Louis Vuitton’s flagship in New York City.” The site features a 240-foot-tall facade of stacked Louis Vuitton trunks. “It’s great marketing and branding, making it a destination experience even amid construction,” she adds.
Jackson also points to activity in discounts brands like Dollar General, where the income level of its shoppers has expanded to $100,000 and higher. “It doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to high-end stores, but they are adding Dollar General to their mix,” Jackson notes. “Mid-tier has to find ways to pull people in.”
Frank sees good activity in the lifestyle retailer and specialty retail channel as well with retailers “focused on adapting to new consumer behaviors, wellness, sustainability and more personalized shopping experiences.”
The Kantar-NRF U.S. Hot 25 Retailers list is the annual ranking of the nation’s most impactful and fastest-growing retail companies. Rankings are determined by year-over-year percentage increases in domestic sales. Traditional retail boutiques account for nine of the 25 spots. The list “really reflects the post-pandemic shift back into the full consumer experience,” says Kantar’s David Marcotte.
The cosmetics market suffered amid the pandemic but has been on the rebound. Overall, Marcotte says, jewelry stores did very well during the pandemic, as “finding experiences and services to spend money on was tough.”
After the pandemic, malls regained foot traffic, reports NRF. Marcotte says, “At the same time, some mall standbys made adjustments to better appeal to the next generation. Abercrombie & Fitch (No. 7) and J.Crew (No. 12) have done ‘very well’ in expanding their audience reach.”
In addition, the list is dominated by grocers (eight of 25), which may be driven in part by the inflationary growth of grocery prices. In 2024, overall grocery prices increased by 2.5%, with food-at-home prices rising by 1.8% and food-away-from-home prices increasing by 3.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index.
It is notable that there are four value-oriented retailers on the list (Five Below, Burlington, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Daiso Sangyo), characterized by NRF as “adventure shopping,” because they require a hunt through ever-changing inventory in an often cluttered retail setting, but these stores are also bargain oriented, which is appealing to shoppers who feel their dollars aren’t stretching as far as they once did.
In a somewhat surprising turn, there are only three dotcom sellers on the list. Overstock.com held the top position for retailer growth last year, with NRF noting that the group acquired the online operations of Bed Bath & Beyond.
A commercial contractor perspective
Based in Kennesaw, Georgia, Synergy Flooring services multinational retail accounts across the U.S. and beyond. Pat Kelly spent 25 years with Milliken, ultimately as national sales manager, before opening Synergy in 2009.
While Kelly had contacts from his years at Milliken, he knew that the key to creating a successful contracting firm to service far-flung locations was developing service partnerships and systems that yielded high-quality, consistent work, whether in Tupelo, Mississippi or Nome, Alaska.
“National account retailers want all their interiors to look similar across the brand,” says Kelly. “They develop interior systems and store plans, and they often say, ‘Here are the service partners you can use.’”
Kelly reports that he often had to “break in” to the business by accepting jobs in remote locations where other service providers were less willing to go. Once Synergy proved itself by performing well in those locations, it earned more business.
One of the things that Kelly likes about the retail business is its breadth. While it isn’t uncommon these days to hear of major brands shuttering storefronts, it’s important to remember how many locations these brands encompass. Walgreens, for instance, operates over 8,500 stores in the U.S., so even a brand with a shrinking real estate footprint can represent a great deal of opportunity.
“Our expertise is renovation without disrupting business,” explains Kelly. “That means at night (grocery stores), on weekends, on holidays (banks). It requires a higher-level specialization because you are working within a space with fixtures and merchandise, which makes service even more important. There are a lot of logistics coming into play, including how to handle and stage materials for the job.”
Another key to being a go-to contractor, Kelly has found, is in having crews with expertise in every type of flooring installation, as retail locations generally utilize multiple types of flooring.
Synergy also takes pride in building a database of jobs that often benefits its customers in unexpected ways. “We can provide more information on store locations than they have themselves,” reports Kelly. “We take pictures and measurements and archive that information. It’s not unusual that a customer will ask us to remodel the same store twice, and we tell them, ‘We just did that location.’”
Ultimately, says Kelly, “We are only as good as that crew on the job.” Seeking to provide a full-service experience, Synergy handles trash removal and recycling of removed flooring product, which customers value.
In addition, Kelly believes professionalism is key. He says, “How the crew dresses, handles themselves and speak are very important. Being courteous elevates the professionalism. If you don’t have that, nothing will work. The Flooring Contractors Association (FCICA) and Certified Flooring Installers (CFI) do a fantastic job in helping to train project managers and installers in professionalism. And FCICA’s Certified Installation Manager (CIM) program is invaluable to us in managing and running our projects. It’s critical for our success.”