January 13, 2026
The economy is sending mixed signals. Inflation is up and 88% of consumers have shifted their spending habits to prioritize value and experience driven retail.
Yet, recent Bazaarvoice data reveals a fascinating paradox: 62% of shoppers are still breaking their budgets. Because while shoppers are cutting back on commodities, they are still splurging on feelings and dopamine hits. The ‘Lipstick Effect’ is in full swing, consumers are willing to open their wallets, but only for products that promise a genuine emotional lift.
This experience driven retail phenomenon is the context for a recent Bath & Body Works’ massive strategic pivot. They realized that in a budget-conscious world, a coupon isn’t enough to trigger a splurge. A “Buy 3, Get 3” deal appeals to the wallet, but it ignores the heart.
To win the ‘budget breakers’, they had to move from transaction (discounts) to experience (sensory storytelling). They are pumping the scent of ‘Fresh Balsam’ into New York’s Grand Central Terminal, trying to trigger the visceral memory that opens the wallet.
But here is the catch: You can’t rent Grand Central Station for every product launch. And you can’t pump scent into a smartphone. So, how do you scale that ‘sensory trust’ to millions of online shoppers who will never set foot in your pop-up?
You don’t need a diffuser. You need a storyteller.
This is where the online store vs offline store consideration comes into play. While a physical scent reaches one to few in one location, a piece of Review and User-Generated Content (UGC) could travel everywhere and anywhere.
Here is how brands are combining these worlds to digitize the senses and capture the shoppers looking to treat themselves.
1. Offline creates the spark and online creates the fire in experience driven retail
We often talk about digital and physical as separate channels, but they are most powerful when they work together. A professional product shot on a screen is sterile. It has no smell, taste, or feeling, and needs a human translator.
- The physical role: The commuter in NYC smells the diffuser. They experience the ground truth.
- The digital role: They post a review saying, “This smells exactly like the pine trees at my family cabin in Tahoe.”
That review is the bridge in experience driven retail. It takes a local, physical moment and translates it into a universal, digital asset. When you encourage detailed, descriptive reviews, you are capturing that physical magic and scaling it to millions of shoppers in London, Tokyo, or Texas.
2. From ‘aisle overwhelm’ to ‘digital curation’
Daniel Heaf, the CEO of Bath & Body Works, admitted their physical stores had become overwhelming and cluttered with too many SKUs. When a shopper is anxious about their budget, overwhelm leads to abandonment.
This is where digital curation supports the physical shelf. By using UGC, creator collaborations and visual content, you guide the shopper through the noise before they even step inside.
It’s not just about showing them a wall of candles. You show them candles that people love for rainy Sunday reading.
You use the meta-data of human experience to organize the shelf. This turns the experience from a warehouse search into a curated journey, helping the shopper feel confident enough to walk in store or go online to buy. That’s emotional commerce right there.
3. The phygital loop
Brands winning over the budget-conscious shopper don’t view offline and online as separate battles. And the Bath and Body Works pivot underlines their plan to build a loop where each feeds the other, as a great example of getting experience driven retail right.
A creator posts a TikTok about the viral new scent. That digital story drives a teen to the mall to experience it IRL. She buys it, scans a QR code, and posts her own review.
The real world is the content studio for digital. And digital is the invitation to the real world. Every physical interaction is an opportunity to generate the digital asset, the photo, the review, the video, that will sell the product to the next million people.
Bath & Body Works is using a scent machine to build a memory as a nod to experience driven retail. You have the tool to scale that memory.
There’s an army of customers who can describe that experience, photograph it, and share it with the world. It does not have to be an online store vs offline store conversation. You just need to let your community be the bridge that connects them.
Don’t just sell the product. Syndicate the sensation.
