Meeting the Needs of Today’s Solo Shopper: Designing for Alonement
Between the never-ending headlines, back-to-back meetings, constant social media alerts, and demands of family life, few are ever meaningfully alone with their thoughts. This habitual overstimulation can make solitude feel lonely and isolating, rather than restorative, and so the cycle continues. The need for rest and recovery has driven many to embrace "alonement" to break that cycle.
Alonement — a term coined to describe the positive and rejuvenating experiences one can have while being alone — can help reduce stress, foster personal reflection, and enhance creativity. As people increasingly crave spaces that support solo experiences, retailers are presented with a unique opportunity to rethink how they connect with consumers.
Balancing Scale and Comfort: Designing Human-Centric Spaces for Solo Shoppers
Big-box stores — designed for families pushing shopping carts through aisles of stacked merchandise — play an important role in modern life. However, as consumers seek more intimate, personalized experiences, retailers can bring their layouts back to a human scale by rebalancing the space between fixtures, at points of sale, and around changing rooms. This idea draws on the "refuge" component of prospect-refuge theory, which emphasizes the value of safe spaces to recharge. By designing to support these physiological responses, brands can capitalize on comfort to engage customers differently and build deeper connections.
For TYR Sport, an innovative fitness brand dedicated to empowering athletes to reach their highest potential, its first brick-and-mortar location needed to embody this commitment. Celebrating the brand's expansion from competitive swimwear into athletic wear and shoes, the store was designed to inspire customers to reach their "personal best" through its new product lines. Fixtures and displays for apparel and accessories are strategically placed, with the new shoe collection positioned at the rear of the store to encourage personal exploration.
The design offsets the shoe collection from the rest of the program, obscuring it partially from view for a more intimate space for shoppers to try on different styles. This strategy provides an area for customers to retreat within the layout, creating a sense of privacy and supporting the alonement shopping experience while drawing attention to the new product line. This space is also located adjacent to the cash wrap counter and serves as a thorough-way to the fitting rooms, concentrating employees at the back of the store for greater interaction opportunities. By intentionally crafting spaces that cater to solo shoppers, retailers can strengthen brand loyalty and encourage repeat visits.
Engaging the Senses to Elevate Alonement
Design elements that encourage personal reflection can also support the alonement experience. Soothing background music, pleasant scents, and tactile materials create a multisensory and immersive shopping environment. Tapping into common grounding techniques with these subtle features can help individuals feel more connected with themselves and the brand. By embracing environmental psychology, which explores how physical spaces influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, retailers can design more meaningful and enjoyable in-store experiences.
Luxury bedding, linens and housewares retailer Boll & Branch curated a specific, upscale aesthetic with its online presence as a digital-first brand. Its physical retail spaces were designed as a seamless extension of that aesthetic with key tactile moments. A "touch-and-feel" textile wall allows customers to test products, explore varying thread counts, and engage different senses. Using texture in this way can help to ground customers within the space, strengthening Boll & Branch's connection with the brain while drawing attention to the product offering. This approach utilizes environmental psychology to inspire the positive feelings associated with alonement and ultimately with the brand itself.
Digital interfaces can also be used for sensory engagement, including kiosks with touchscreens, virtual reality stations, and hands-on product demonstrations. Plush seating and adjustable lighting enable customers to interact with products on a personalized level at their own pace. As more brands integrate alonement into their design strategies, we can expect to see retail spaces evolve into sanctuaries that invite customers to reconnect with themselves and the products they love. This approach not only differentiates brands in a competitive market but demonstrates consideration for their shoppers' mental and emotional well-being — something we could all use a little more of these days.
Alejandro Gala is the creative director at TPG Architecture, a leader in the design of innovative and highly functional work environments.
Alejandro Gala, Creative Director at TPG Architecture, brings nearly 20 years of experience in retail, hotel, commercial and residential design. With a versatile background in architecture and building engineering, Gala excels in translating clients’ visions into exceptional designs. His extensive travels to over 65 countries enrich his work with cultural influences, showcased through his visual communication skills. Before joining TPG, Gala worked for NYC-based firms such as Vocon and Gensler after holding positions at firms across Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and China. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the European University of Madrid and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Extremadura in Spain.
