The Apple Store sells ambience, sure, but at the heart of the experience is an array of amazing products. Most shops in the future will probably try to similarly offer an “experience” and diversify their offerings, but will it work if their selling just things and not the thing? From “What Will Shopping Look Like in the Future,” Mae Anderson’s AP report:

“Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru says stores of the future will be more about services, like day care, veterinary services and beauty services. Services that connect online and offline shopping could increase as well, with more drive-thru pickup and order-online, pick-up-in-store services. Checkout also will be self-service or with cashiers using computer tablets.

Some stores are taking self-service further: A store in Seattle called Hointer displays clothing not in piles or on racks but as one piece hanging at a time, like a gallery.

Shoppers just touch their smartphones to a coded tag on the item and then select a color and size on their phone. Technology in the store keeps track of the items, and by the time a shopper is ready to try them on, they’re already at the dressing room.

If the shopper doesn’t like an item, he tosses it down a chute, which automatically removes the item from the shopper’s online shopping cart. The shopper keeps the items that he or she wants, which are purchased automatically when leaving the store, no checkout involved.

Nadia Shouraboura, Hointer’s CEO, says once shoppers get used to the process, they’re hooked.

‘They end up buying a lot more, they’re laughing and playing with it,’ she says.”