Brain Food: Play and Shopping

Play is primal. And all play means something.

As a socializing function, there is something about engaging in the activity of play that teaches us, fosters empathy, provides context and creates meaning. The non-materialistic outcomes of play are so much a part of who we are, we might say that play is woven into the very core of our culture as empathic beings.

In his 1998 book “Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Emotions,” Jaak Panskepp explains that “the same brain circuitry that prompts play also stimulates joy and is found in all mammals.” You might say that our brains are hardwired for joyful interactions with our fellow humans, and play is just one way we achieve that biological directive.

Through play, we become better connected to ourselves, others and to a larger world view. The expression, “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game,” has particular significance, because it’s through playing that we come to understand what it means to be in the game at all. The overall objective is to have a jovial interaction; it’s meant to be fun.

Sound like a discussion about shopping? It should, because the basic tenets of play are synonymous with shopping. Despite the direct connections to recreation as a key feature in remarkable customer experiences, most shopping trips fall flat. For retail to be engaging and effective, and also deliver as a principal form of social activity built on empathic connection, it must be full of play.

When thinking about shopping and play, we’re likely to imagine places such as FAO Schwarz on Fifth Avenue or the Toys“R”Us in Times Square. While these two locales are indeed playful, not all stores need to be an amusement park for customers. Understanding the basic principles of play and its relationship to the development of culture, even brand culture, allows us to see how we can better create lively moments of engagement throughout the shopping journey.             

Here are the seven key features of play that are analogous to the shopping experience:

1) Play is deeply participatory in nature – it’s an embodied experience.
If we fully participate in the experience, we share a sense of community with others who are having fun while walking the aisles, trying things on, interacting with technology and handing over cash or credit at the cash wrap.

2) Play is made possible by expressing a sense of shared vulnerability, which is allowed by an implied covenant of collective trust.
The degree that customers allow themselves to be vulnerable in a retail environment is a sign of their level of trust with the sales associates, retailer and brand. Customer-retailer-brand relationships that are successful, profitable and enduring, are those that respect vulnerability as being intrinsically tied to play.

3) Openness and acceptance are necessary parts of a play environment.
Whether they’re an affable elderly woman in a blue tunic or a bikini-clad teenager doused in a signature fragrance, smiling faces jumpstart the opportunity for the customer to feel accepted and comfortable. Smiles go a long way in creating an atmosphere of acceptance.

4) Play tends to be open-ended – its world is a timeless realm.
Shopping can often possess the quality of a time warp. In-store experiences require us to suspend disbelief long enough to enter the world of the brand or retailer. In the stores we love, anything can happen, and we willingly allow ourselves to be swept away in the experience.

5) Play takes place in a space that’s separate from the outside world.
Shopping places are set aside from instrumental space. The environment can be millions of square feet or a tent at a flea market. Whatever the case, for the period of time when play occurs, these places are special, apart from the rest of the world.

6) Play is entered into voluntarily – you can't be forced into play.
Play and shopping are both volunteer activities. We choose to go to the market, the mall or Main Street. We opt-in, because, for most of us, shopping is playful and fun.

7) Through play we’re provided with context and meaning, and become connected.
Any retailer who believes in its store as a place of play — whether a dollar store, specialty shop, mass merchant or luxury brand – understands our intrinsic need to socialize, and that play is a viaduct to emotional connections with the customer that also gives meaning to their lives.

If the one of the goals of making great shopping places is to provide opportunities for people to build relationships, it stands to reason that making customer engagement playful helps bring us closer to the “endgame.” And as people play in retail stores they become connected to each other, the retailer and the brand.

David Kepron is the creative director of Little’s Brand Experience Studio and author of “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World,” published by ST Media Group Intl. and available online from ST Books. His retail design work focuses on the creation of relevant shopping experiences at the intersection of architecture, sociology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. @davidkepron; www.retail-r-evolution.com; www.littleonline.com