Online retailer Luxury Escapes has just unveiled a Melbourne pop-up store called the Holiday Lab to bust customers’ post-vacation blues and experiment with physical retail. 

It’s no secret that in recent years, brands are upping the ante in their bricks-and-mortar spaces by going beyond the transactional and that the modern shopper is now more focused on buying into experiences rather than products.

As a result, more online retailers like Luxury Escapes are entering the pop-up space and testing new physical concepts, allowing their customers to engage with their brands in more tangible ways. 

“The Holiday Lab offers visitors the chance to design their own dream holiday through a range of interactive and immersive sensory experiences, including touch, taste and sound,” said Luxury Escapes CEO Cameron Holland in a statement. 

“As consumers engage with each experience, their responses are tracked through a custom-developed algorithm which helps to build the consumer’s personalised travel persona and profile, offering them a tailored ‘remedy’ for post-holiday blues.”  

The Holiday Lab was also created as an oasis for guests to escape the daily grind, with free daily giveaways, events and holidays. Interestingly, it was also developed with the help of mindfulness coach, Dr Elise Bialylew, who believes travel is an important way to relax and boost mental health.

Earlier this month, Luxury Escapes released a report around Australians’ post-holiday blues, the results of which were referenced in the pop-up store.

For example, 40 per cent of Australians get the holiday blues after a holiday has ended, with 60 per cent feeling a ‘sense of dread’ upon returning to the office. Meanwhile, one in three Australians say they sleep better after a holiday and one in two Australians want three or more annual holidays to feel rested during the year.

The Holiday Lab is running from 11am-7pm until March 7 at 382 Bourke Street in Melbourne.