News & Views | Retail Trends and Insights

5 Strategic Considerations for Your Next Store Brief

A strong store brief should be shaped by evidence, not trend-chasing. These five strategic considerations help retailers test how service, choice, trust, circular services and local relevance should influence the customer journey, operating model and use of space.

How Experience Strategy Turns Underused Space into a Customer Asset

Experience strategy helps organisations rethink underused branches, stores and customer spaces before committing to refurbishment. By defining the role of the location, customer needs and operational priorities first, businesses can turn unused capacity into a more relevant and productive customer asset.

Why an Experiential Design Company Must Plan Quiet Areas Too

An experiential design company should plan high-energy and quieter areas as part of one joined-up guest journey. Thoughtful zoning, acoustics, seating and transitions can support comfort, communication and participation without reducing the energy of the wider venue.

Why Global Brands Look to London for Strategic and Creative Design

Choosing a design agency in London is about more than location. London’s mix of retail, hospitality and customer-facing brands creates a valuable environment for strategic thinking, creative development and cross-sector insight. M Worldwide combines that perspective with international experience across physical and digital environments.

5 Supermarket Design Moves That Improve a Smaller Store’s Performance

Effective supermarket design helps smaller stores balance range, customer flow and operational needs. By planning around key shopping missions, category visibility and flexible local ranges, retailers can use space more productively without making the store harder to navigate.

Why You Should Involve a Brand Experience Design Agency Before Writing the Brief

Bringing a brand experience design agency into a project early can help teams define the customer problem before committing to a format. Research, journey mapping and operational insight create a clearer brief, align stakeholders and give design decisions a stronger commercial foundation.

How Restaurant Design Builds Repeat Visits Without Compromising Operations

Effective restaurant design connects guest comfort, operational flow, digital journeys and brand identity. By supporting different customer missions and giving teams a practical environment in which to work, restaurants can create consistent experiences that encourage repeat visits across locations and service channels.

How Retail Interior Design Protects Brand Consistency Across an Estate

Retail interior design can protect brand consistency without making every location identical. By defining clear principles, testing formats and creating flexible rollout systems, retailers can build a recognisable experience across different stores, markets and customer journeys.

Why Merch Is Becoming Part of Brand Experience Design

Merch is becoming a more considered part of brand experience design. When products reflect clear brand DNA, feel useful and sit naturally within the customer journey, they can extend the experience beyond the physical space and support recall, affiliation and commercial value.

How Retail Space Design Turns Queues into Brand Value

Queues can attract attention, but poor planning quickly creates friction. Effective retail space design connects customer flow, signage, staff positions and operational capacity to make waiting feel clear, fair and purposeful.

Why the High Street Is Becoming a New Home for Preventative Health Retail Trends

Preventative health retail trends are reshaping the role of the high street. From wellness consultations to diagnostic services, new formats are combining accessibility, privacy and clear customer journeys within physical retail environments.

How In-Store Production Can Support Retail Sales

Visible production can turn product preparation, craft or testing into a distinctive customer touchpoint. When supported by clear retail design and operational planning, it can build product understanding, encourage engagement and contribute to retail sales.

Retail Design for Stores Customers Actively Choose

Effective retail design brings customer insight, spatial planning and brand identity together. By improving navigation, product visibility and the overall flow of the store, brands can create more intuitive experiences that support engagement and commercial performance.

How Arrival Design Shapes Customer Experience Strategy

Arrival design plays a central role in customer experience strategy. Clear entrances, visible support and intuitive spatial cues can reduce uncertainty, connect digital and physical touchpoints, and help customers understand what to do next from the moment they arrive.

Are Staff Interactions the Most Undervalued KPI in Physical Brand Experience Design?

How does brand experience design use interactions, trust, and spatial planning to improve customer experience?

Can Service Rituals Make a Brand More Memorable Through Experience Branding?

Learn how experience branding turns physical spaces into memorable customer experiences.

Game Nation Venue Launched With a Roar

Read how we helped Game Nation transform its venue in the heart of Chinatown.

Monument Branch Brought To Life

See the tangible results of our strategy, design, and customer experience work come to life for Newcastle Building Society

A Renewed Enthusiasm for Bank Branches

As a consultancy we have been working with financial services around the world since 1995 – reshaping networks, branch propositions and experiences. The focus for bigger organisations over the last few years has been on transforming legacy networks which, like high street retail, had become over spaced with too many locations.

Redefining Community Banking with Unblu’s Digital Interaction

Our Co-Founder, Michael Heanue, recently joined Unblu on a tour of several bank branches across Switzerland, including a SwissPost location, to experience their personalised digital interaction service.

Icelanders are open to innovations

David Martin, Co-founder of M Worldwide, says that in short, M Worldwide specialises in developing the customer experience and redesigning spaces.

CX Insider Podcast: Finance sector innovation

Our co-founder, Michael Heanue, shares insights on best practice in customer experience and future-proofing for finance brands as the physical branch is repurposed for the digital age.

2024 Transform Awards

We are delighted to announce we have won two Silvers at the Transform Awards 2024. Best Brand Development Project and Best Brand Experience for our work with Kringlan Mall.

Blómaval Home & Garden Concept

We are excited to continue our DBA award-winning collaboration with Scandinavian chain, Husasmidjan. We will be working on their Blómaval flagship store in Skútuvogur, Reykjavik.

DBA Awards Hat-Trick!

One of the highlights of 2023 was seeing three of our projects win DBA Design Effectiveness Awards. Innovative, data driven design that delivered measurable value to our clients.

Newcastle Building Society Flagship

We are delighted to have been selected to partner Newcastle Building Society on the development of its innovative Flagship Branch bringing community-first design to the UK high street.

Healthy City Design International 2023

Our co-founder, David Martin, joined the line up this year to share insights on how to create healthier communities and the repurposing of the UK high street.

Selfoss Centre: Delivering a Vision and Master Planning

Selfoss Midtown Iceland – the new Selfoss Centre hosts shops, restaurants, hotels and cultural activities of different kinds.

Icelandic Husasmidjan chain: Innovative flagship store in the North Atlantic

The Icelandic company Husasmidjan, part of the Danish Bygma Group, have opened a pilot store.

Bank of Scotland: DBA Design Effectiveness Win!

Our branch experience for Bank of Scotland has won a DBA Design Effectiveness Award.

5 ways physical stores can become an extension of the mobile to create a winning experience

The focus of retail is undoubtably on eCommerce, but we think that physical stores are just as important for brands. Here’s my take on how retailers can create a winning experience for their customers.

7 ways to reinvigorate your workplace

For many, Covid-19 has challenged the purpose of having large

6 themes shaping the future of shopping & leisure destinations

Shopping Outlets are facing transformational times. Even before Covid the

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