A curated collection of insights and opinions on retail, brand, and business—framed through design as a strategic tool.

In a world where more retail transactions are happening online, many assume physical stores are losing relevance. But the truth is the opposite. Stores are evolving—from points of sale to...

Every year, retailers waste millions on store formats that fail, not because the strategy was wrong, but because it was untested. The problem isn't vision. It's execution. Somewhere between the...

Every year, retailers waste millions on store formats that fail, not because the strategy was wrong, but because it was untested. The problem isn't vision. It's execution. Somewhere between the...

Walking down the high street today, it's impossible to ignore the invasion of biophilic design in retail. Every third shop seems to be sprouting plants—real or fake—leaving me questioning the...

Are brands looking at investing in Physical Retail with a comprehensive understanding of the impact these decisions have on thier consumers relationship to the Brand.

The queue quandary, is the lineup a marketing miracle or a brand-building blunder? How should businesses integrate queues into their retail experiences?

Ian Johnston, presents SHOP! Association’s latest Masterclass sharing new thinking around the power of retail design.

Is a wish list the answer to a brand's ability to allow customers to move seamlessly between the offline and online channels?

Can a Customer's Smart device be the gateway to a truely seamless omnichannel retail experience? When a smartphone experience in-store is well executed, it is akin to a TV remote...

The impact of diversity and inclusion on your physical store strategy

Diversity and inclusion are becoming increasingly more important for businesses globally. Does it really matter that this is a response to commercial pressure or a higher moral duty?

For the third episode of EY’s Transforming Retail podcast, Quinine’s Founder, Ian and the panel explore the metaverse.

Our Founder, Ian Johnston, joins Martin Raymond, Co-founder of The Future Laboratory to discuss the topic of experiential retail.

For the second episode of EY's Transforming Retail podcast, our Founder, Ian and the panel take a dive into the topic of data.

Interviewing thought leaders at the intersection of business and technology SnowShoe’s CEO Ned Hayes invited Quinine’s founder, Ian Johnston as a guest on their ‘Spark Plug’ podcast.

This is where we share some of the conversations we are having at Quinine and invite the wider retail community to join the discussion.

Over the summer, our Founder, Ian Johnston, met with Paul Zahra, CEO of the Australian Retail Association, to discuss sustainable retail beyond the store build.

Our Founder, Ian Johnston was invited by EY to participate in 'Transforming Retail' a new podcast for retail leaders around the world.

Putting the physical and digital together isn’t new, but doing it for retail success in our modern world is trickier than ever. Download our latest Insight Report for tips to...

For his latest podcast, Customer Service Expert, Shep Hyken asks our Founder, Ian Johnston how retailers can create added value in the store experience beyond price, quality and convenience.

Retail is an industry driven by metrics. Decisions are rarely made without the analysis of data, in the hope of minimising risk. It is used to evaluate a store’s performance...

Retail is an industry driven by metrics. Decisions are rarely made without the analysis of data, in the hope of minimising risk. It is used to evaluate a store’s performance...

As an extension of mental health, wellbeing is one of the most significant social issues that remains largely untouched by global retail brands. There is no doubt it is an...

From the perspective of store design, how can the physical environment discriminate in retail? Discrimination is traditionally defined as unjust or prejudicial treatment of people based on a number of...

Many retail businesses have rightly begun to prioritise critical social issues such as environmental sustainability and inclusion and diversity. As a design consultancy focused on physical spaces, we have worked...

In this report, we outline a series of interventions that demonstrate how retailers are integrating themselves more deeply into the fabric of the community and are making the physical store...

Value engineering physical retail formats should focus on keeping value as well as engineering reduced costs.

In her recent podcast Retail Strategist, Carol Spieckerman invited Ian to share his thoughts on the powerful role store design can play in promoting solutions, services and social action.

With the fluid and dynamic situation forced upon us by the COVID-19 pandemic, we see the world around us constantly changing. It’s really important to continually observe how these changes...

Whilst there is no doubt that materials play an important part in the sustainable development conversation, it is when retailers consider sustainability more broadly that they can have the most...

Being sustainable is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it must now be the foundation that every physical retail brand builds upon.

Imagine shopping while every sense is amplified. The conversations between customers are so loud it's like they are yelling. The ceiling lights are near blinding, and flashing lights from media...

Our report ‘Retail Insights 2021’ highlights 22 unmissable retail innovations and insights that you should be exploring.

Good is the new cool. Priorities of the modern consumer have shifted to make kindness and empathy key to sustained market growth and consumer trust and loyalty.

We've all learned a lesson in cleanliness and hygiene, to a degree. This experience has helped people understand how easily germs can spread and what exists on surfaces beyond our...

We are all more aware than ever of our fragility and the importance of our health. We increasingly understand what being healthy is, and we are using our downtime to...

As we have come to enjoy the convenience and frictionless experience of online ordering and returns, there’s likely to be a division between the expectations of online and offline. The...

As our attention towards sustainability is heightened, our expectations of convenience and especially delivery are changing. Today, it’s actually ok to wait for things. As our values shift, we are...

In a trend accelerated by the pandemic, consumers are holding themselves to a higher ethical standard, with more people trading their desire for convenience for a greater social cause. Sustainable...

The 2020 pandemic was the most profound shared experience for a generation, creating a moment that brought everyone closer together and leaving us with a far greater appreciation of local...

Our Founder, Ian Johnston has been invited to be part of the Store Experience Design Industry Panel for PSFK’s ‘Festival of Retail’.

For many of us, working from home is now part of our everyday lives. This has given us an appetite and appreciation for the comfort that our home brings. Whether...

How can the Physical Retail Store Motivate Staff to Perform like Superstars?

All consumers desire great value, but value is a perception. It’s a feeling measured subjectively. However, what is recognisable to all consumers is experiencing great value unexpectedly; when they feel...

All too often the dialogue surrounding Experiential Retail focuses almost exclusively on Customer Experiences. Of course, this carries huge importance in the long-term success of any retail format, but when...

Founder and Creative Director, Ian Johnston was joined by John Giacomazzi, VP of Retail Merchandising and Store Design at Xfinity (part of the Comcast Corporation) to deliver a talk at...

Recently our Founder and Creative Director, Ian Johnston was joined by John Giacomazzi, VP of Retail Merchandising and Store Design at Xfinity (part of the Comcast Corporation) to deliver a...

The Quinine team attended GlobalShop’s Retail Exhibition and Conference in Chicago to get involved in the key discussions and debates on the latest trends and technologies that are affecting the...

Here, we will examine ‘escapist’ customer missions, where people shop for the sake of it, or just to be immersed into the retail landscape for a few hours. We’ll unpick...

Here, we will investigate ‘entertainment’ customer missions. These are curated events or participation opportunities in store. Using examples, we will demonstrate how the Retail Experience Framework can help retailers to...

Retailers and brands the world over are trying to adapt to the rapidly changing world around us. There are serious disruptions all playing out at once; from the growth of...

In the next episode, we will tackle ‘educational’ customer missions. These are retail experiences that also offer self-improvement or learning opportunities. We look at how they work and their value...

The Social Experience. In our fourth episode, we will consider ‘social’ customer missions. These are about making face-to-face connections and using shopping to feel part of the community. We’ll look...

The Functional Experience. In the third episode, we take a deeper dive into ‘functional’ customer missions. This is where it all started… with people going to a shop to achieve...

Place and Customer Journey. Here, we will explore how getting the basics right first is key to any in-store experience and customer journey. This relates to how the store works...

People, Place and Time. In the first of our episodes, Ian and Alex dissect the industry catchphrase of the moment, ‘experiential retail’. What is it, and why is everyone talking...

Design Principle - Contour Bias, many features of the everyday objects and environments we encounter lead to us making quick judgements about them, sometimes without even realising that we have.

Most people will tell you that this type of engagement is a waste of time and money, for both client and agency. So why do companies continue to use such...

A joint lecture with Ian Johnston, Creative Director and Founder at Quinine and Matt Price, Head of Commercial Development and Store Design at EE.

Insight and thoughts from the Retail Design and Branding Case Study Conference

The best retail designers are not only great ideas people, they’re also highly skilled at explaining and selling in their concepts.

When it comes to retail, our mindset has totally changed in the past decade or so. Anywhere in the world you care to mention, people have embraced a new digital...

A site specific theatre experience is immersive, engaging, and gets you physically involved. It was a very powerful experience — one that should be used far more in retail environments.

Having a brilliant idea is only part of the designer’s challenge. A vital and often overlooked aspect of the job is how we communicate that vision to clients, collaborators and...

Design Principle - Successful retail design is about far more than mere look and feel. Environments should have a positive impact on the customers and staff who use the space.

Design Principle - Priming is an effect based on the activation of ideas, principles and concepts in ones memory.