Designing Shopping Experiences That Convert In-Store and Online

At ShopTalk Fall, leaders from Caruso, Wayfair, and American Girl shared how they are reimagining physical retail to drive both conversion and loyalty. Moderated by Jim Okamura, Partner at McMillanDoolittle, the discussion underscored that the most effective stores are no longer just points of transaction, they are engines of storytelling, trust, and brand identity.

Caruso: Turning time into “heart share”

For Caruso, the Los Angeles developer behind The Grove and Palisades Village, success is measured not only in sales per square foot but also in dwell time. Guests spend nearly 100 minutes at its properties, far above the industry average. That longevity, argued SVP Corey Conrad, creates “heart share”: memorable experiences that deepen brand loyalty even if they are not directly tied to a register.

The company has become a launchpad for digital-first brands seeking their first physical presence. Its Glass Box incubator allows young labels to test formats before committing to long leases, with pop-ups from brands like Dr Jart and Lineage exceeding projections and driving cross-shopping across tenants. For Caruso, the experience is a mix of curation, entertainment, and community ensuring guests leave with memories as well as purchases.

Wayfair: A brand made physical

Wayfair’s entry into large-format stores is an effort to make its brand tangible. Chief Merchant and VP of Stores, Liza Lefkowski, explained that smaller pop-ups could never capture the company’s core value: breadth and depth of selection. The new store concept is designed as a “physical manifestation” of the brand, combining wide product choice with an environment that feels warm, playful, and unmistakably Wayfair.

The physical stores are tightly integrated into the wider ecosystem. Associates use tablets linked to the app so customers can pick up where they left off online. The curated product assortment and the creation of a “Wayfair Verified” range to highlight the best of the best ensures the store avoids overwhelming shoppers with choice while reinforcing trust in quality.

American Girl: Updating an icon

American Girl has long been synonymous with experiential retail from doll hospitals to in-store cafés. But as Danielle DiMaiolo Rendini, Head of Retail, explained, even beloved formats require reinvention. Her team has refreshed every element of the customer journey: from merchandising with richer storytelling scenes that increase basket size, to reimagining service protocols under the acronym “MAGIC,” where staff are encouraged to inspire and celebrate rather than merely inform and conclude.

The company has also developed Style by You, a semi-custom doll experience designed for immediacy. Unlike the full online customisation journey that takes weeks, the in-store version lets children choose dolls, outfits, and accessories in a single visit combining emotional resonance with incremental revenue. Loyalty events and personal shopping further position American Girl as both a destination and a memory-maker.

Convergence: Experience as commerce

What linked these diverse strategies was the recognition that stores must act as more than transactional spaces. Caruso focuses on creating cultural gravity that draws crowds. Wayfair uses stores to make selection tangible and trustworthy. American Girl turns visits into lasting emotional milestones.

Across all three, measurement and data remain critical, but always in service of the human experience. Whether through dwell-time analysis, omnichannel integration, or event-driven clienteling, the common goal is to convert not just sales, but sentiment.

Independently Created. Not affiliated with Shoptalk.

Unofficially Shoptalk is a ClickZ Media publication in the Events division