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Lokusdesign: Transforming Brands & Elevating Retail Experiences

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Shekhar Badve,Founder Director - Design, Strategy & Marketing

Shekhar Badve,
Founder Director - Design, Strategy & Marketing


Theglobal retail landscape has transformed into a new and modernised version of itself over the last few years owing to the widespread adoption of e-Commerce, gamification and digitization in general. Another major factor facilitating the retail industry’s restructuring is the massive evolution of consumer expectations. With competition rising in every sector, ensuring a consumer’s attention and converting that into a sale has become an uphill battle. Aiding brands and companies to build a strong connect with their customers through its proprietary design process is Lokusdesign.

Based in Pune, this strategic design consulting company has developed expertise in delivering rich Brand Strategy & Design, Packaging Design and Experience Design (Brand Experience Centers, Retail Stores, Exhibitions, Office Spaces, and Museums) solutions. At the helm of affairs is Chandrashekhar (Shekhar) Badve, its Founder Director, who brings to the table 17+ years of diverse experience in strategic design, innovation, and design research. A staunch believer in the power of design to facilitate systemic results,
Shekhar has been driving consistent growth at Lokusdesign since its inception.

"Lokusdesign aids customers through its expertise in retail design, which involves the design and development of the retail experience, interiors and other solutions that clients seek"

Creating Immersive Retail Experiences
The emergence of e-Commerce has largely affected the traditional role played by brick and mortar stores. No longer can they merely function as a point of sale. This has propelled brands to focus on elevating the customer experience through specially designed experience centres. “Consumers today are not merely satisfied with basic information about a product. Before making a purchase, they need to see how a product would function in its entirety and then make an informed choice,” explains Shekhar.

Lokusdesign aids customers through its expertise in retail design, which involves the design and development of the retail experience, interiors and other solutions that clients seek. The company has developed strong capabilities in mapping and transforming customer journeys and experiences across physical stores in order to strengthen brand positioning and enable higher sales. The team designs how customers navigate and engage with physical spaces, the impressions they carry, the form of their interaction, and kind of information they receive. These decisions are based on the products, the brand marketing strategy, and a detailed ethnographic research into the
target audiences. Additionally, Lokusdesign also renders turnkey integration and design execution services. The team also provides clients a comprehensive perspective on socio-cultural behaviour and branding trends.

Technology to Aid Retail's Future
Technology has acted as a major catalyst in the evolution of consumer expectations and consequently the retail industry. As brands wake-up to the tech savvy requirements of today’s consumers, tech trends such as augmented reality, virtual reality, Internet of Things and artificial intelligence among others, need to be incorporated into the retail experience. Lokusdesign is adept at leveraging cutting edge technology solutions to enhance consumer experience, thus firing-up sales for brands. “The focus today is on the entire customer life cycle; IoT is thus infusing AI in products and service deliveries through modern retail formats,” explains Shekhar.

Building Captivating Experience Centres
As experience centres become more commonplace, Lokusdesign is amplifying its service portfolio to render brands with next-gen solutions. For instance, the firm is designing a state-of-the-art experience centre for the Jaquar Group in Gurgaon. Aimed at showing consumers what goes into building quality bath fitting and other products, the 6000 sq. ft. facility has slated to be launched in January. Lokusdesign has experienced a 150 percent growth in revenues in 2017 and is now looking to intensify its growth in the years to come.