The business of luxury: Considerations for specifying carpet in the commercial and retail sectors

Evolving dynamics in the commercial and retail sectors has changed the face of interior design. The disruptive e-commerce landscape has forced the retail sector to reimagine their brick and mortar operations and traditional approaches. Forward-thinking retailers are adopting innovative strategies to leverage their shopfront assets into a competitive advantage, delivering memorable “brand experiences” to their clients and providing a sense of tangibility and completeness that cannot be met in the e-commerce retail space. While comfort, durability, health and wellbeing remain key considerations when specifying interior elements, how a retail space communicates a brand’s values and identity has driven the need for more ‘custom’ or ‘bespoke’ solutions. 

The commercial sector faces a similar cultural shift. The growing ‘gig economy’, agile work practices and the ‘war on talent’ has forced companies to rethink how they attract and retain talent. Architects and designers have been asked to develop innovative employee-centric workspaces that promote end-user wellbeing while enabling greater efficiency and productivity. 

These sectors, while different on the surface, place similar demands upon the performance of their interior spaces. Both sectors aim to nurture and comfort their end users, encouraging free buying behaviours in a retail setting and promoting a supportive atmosphere in a commercial workspace. Both sectors require design solutions to withstand high levels of foot traffic. Finally, both sectors must maximise style and functionality in increasingly smaller spaces due to upward trends in property costs - forcing companies to downsize built assets  - and a competitive retail lease market facing soaring rates.

In this context, specifying carpet for retail and commercial projects holds a significant number of overlapping considerations. In this white paper, we discuss the critical factors that should be considered when selecting carpet for retail or commercial use, and highlight a number of innovative products that deliver  on style, performance and functionality.