*By Michael Teich* Sparkling water and fancy coffee may not be enough to lure consumers into struggling brick-and-mortar shops. But creating uncontrived experiences in stores will help retailers survive the transition to a digital economy, said Rima Reddy, a principal at innovation accelerator XRC Labs. "The key is to not make them so that they feel like they are forced," Reddy said Thursday in an interview on Cheddar. "That's really hard. They really have to be perfectly on-brand." Retailers could benefit from Bonobos' strategy of designing stores like showrooms and shifting the focus away from just selling, she said. This would save stores money by reducing expenses on real estate. Beyond an improvement in the real-life shopping experience, retailers need to invest judiciously in the right technology. Reddy said stores should integrate tech that adds value to shoppers ー not just flash for the sake of flash. Tech, above all, should make shopping more efficient, Reddy said. And in her view, that means augmented reality. "AR has really practical implications for customers," she said. "VR, when you have to wear a headset, it's just novel. It's not really helping the customer in any way." For full interview [click here] (https://cheddar.com/videos/unoriginal-in-store-experiences-wont-save-retailers-says-expert).

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