Green spaces in retail

Green spaces are areas within urban environments with grass, trees, and other plants set aside for recreational or aesthetic purposes. In addition to providing shade and reducing air pollution, green spaces have both mental and physical health benefits to individuals – a recent study suggests that people who grew up with substantial residential green spaces are 55% less likely to develop a mental health disorder.1 So what relevance do green spaces have for retailers?

Green spaces can positively affect key business metrics

According to academic research, green spaces actually have restorative potential (such as reducing fatigue) linked to key business metrics. Rosenbaum, Otalora, and Ramirez found that customers who recognised a shopping centre’s restorative potential reported having higher levels of satisfaction, intention to recommend, loyalty, and Net Promoters Score.2 This was supported by Purani and Kumar who found that green spaces have positive effects on consumers’ psychological states, attention, and mood which in turn positively influences service preference.3

How are retailers incorporating green spaces?

At the store level, a number of retailers create plant displays to provide a welcoming green contrast to the often stark white shopping centres or concrete grey of retail strips. For example, the Suncorp Discovery Store in Sydney is decked with a variety of greenery along its walls, with pots plants and wooden furnishings decorating the seating area. The store was even shortlisted for the 2018 Outstanding Store Design category at the World Retail Awards.4

Another example is Burwood Brickworks, a new development in Melbourne that plans to be a world-leading shopping centre in sustainability once its construction is complete in late 2019. The shopping centre will be adorned with hanging greenery and spaces where shoppers can relax while being surrounded by nature. The broader complex – to be completed with apartments and living spaces – will embed nature into the urban environment and provide residents and shoppers with a sustainable space that promotes wellbeing.

  1. LS:N Global. (2019). Source.
  2. 2 Rosenbaum, M. S., Otalora, M. L., and Ramirez, G. C. (2016). The restorative potential of shopping malls. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 31(1), 157-165.
  3. Purani, K. and Humar, D. S. (2018). Exploring restorative potential of biophilic servicescapes. Journal of Services Marketing, 32(4), 414-429.
  4. World Retail Awards. (2018). Source.