Abstract
In an era increasingly shaped by consumers’ search for meaningful and emotionally engaging experiences, the concept of restorative retail is emerging as a key paradigm in retail and service design. This semi-systematic literature review synthesizes theoretical and empirical research across marketing, environmental psychology, and architecture to examine how physical retail environments can promote psychological restoration and well-being. Drawing on foundational frameworks—Attention Restoration Theory (ART), biophilia, and servicescape theory—the review identifies central design principles such as nature integration, sensory harmony, and spatial openness that underpin restorative experiences. Although evidence supports the restorative potential of retail environments, empirical validation remains limited, particularly across cultural contexts and longitudinal designs. The review concludes by outlining priorities for future research and positioning restorative retail as both a commercial innovation and a societal imperative for enhancing human well-being in an increasingly digitalized world.
Keywords
restorative, wellbeing, literature review
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.856
Citation
Quartier, K. (2026) Restorative Retail: A Literature Review on Consumer Well-being in the Retail Environment, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.856
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Restorative Retail: A Literature Review on Consumer Well-being in the Retail Environment
In an era increasingly shaped by consumers’ search for meaningful and emotionally engaging experiences, the concept of restorative retail is emerging as a key paradigm in retail and service design. This semi-systematic literature review synthesizes theoretical and empirical research across marketing, environmental psychology, and architecture to examine how physical retail environments can promote psychological restoration and well-being. Drawing on foundational frameworks—Attention Restoration Theory (ART), biophilia, and servicescape theory—the review identifies central design principles such as nature integration, sensory harmony, and spatial openness that underpin restorative experiences. Although evidence supports the restorative potential of retail environments, empirical validation remains limited, particularly across cultural contexts and longitudinal designs. The review concludes by outlining priorities for future research and positioning restorative retail as both a commercial innovation and a societal imperative for enhancing human well-being in an increasingly digitalized world.