Retail Environment: Hyper-Stimulus vs. Minimalism

Have you ever been inside a Cabela's sporting goods store? They're huge. You can get your share of daily exercise just by browsing one of the three floors, replenish yourself with meals from the booths inside, and buy buy buy to your heart's content. It's part museum, part zoo, part kiddie park and all retail. It has "everything". This is the store you go to when you want to gear up for a hunting, camping, kayaking trip. It's a place to spend your whole day looking at products, really investing in the details each has to offer.

And then there's the flip-side. Have you ever been into an American Apparel store? Minimal. Focus is on product and ease of shopping experience. You'll probably spend no more than 10 minutes there, unless you're trying on the Le Sac dress all 12 ways. This is the store you visit to marvel at the array of colors and then just buy a hoodie. Even AA's mono-sex styling has reduced the volume of choices a customer needs to make in order to leave the store with a purchase.

In my opinion, which has yet to be verified for accuracy, the "stimulus" model has deep appeal to a highly specific audience, while the "minimalism" model garners less intense interest from a broad range of people.

The disparity between the "stimulus" and "minimalism" extremes is continually widening. But, at the same time, both models serve popular and successful businesses. It's important for brands to think about what side of the spectrum they want to sit on, and what will be most appealing to their customers.