U.S. e-commerce hit a record 16.9% of total retail sales in the first quarter of 2026, according to Census Bureau data compiled by JLL. Physical stores still account for more than four-fifths of consumer spending. “The question is not whether stores remain important but how they can create distinctive value alongside increasingly sophisticated digital channels,” JLL Design wrote in Resetting the Retail (Algo) Rhythm.
The June 2026 survey of 1,121 U.S. adults ages 18 to 77 — all of whom had shopped in-store or dined out in the prior month — finds customers “tire of curated digital feeds and constant screen time.” Stores, the firm argues, can offer “tactile discovery, sensory relief and human connection.” The sample is Gen Z 22%, millennials 33%, Gen X 22% and baby boomers 22%.
“While AI-powered curation makes infinite product ranges easier to navigate, customers are now pushing back against feeling predicted,” the report says. Eighty-three percent enjoy finding products they “never would have searched for digitally.” Forty-five percent say online recommendations “feel like they are narrowing what they are allowed to like.” Among millennials and Gen Z, 53% “prefer browsing a physical store without algorithmic influence.”
“Discovery is becoming a reason to visit,” JLL writes. “Customers want the freedom to discover products on their own terms and not be defined by an algorithm’s data.” The design provocation that follows is explicit: “What if retailers created layouts that rewarded wandering, not efficiency?”
Stores are not an automatic refuge. “Overstimulation is now a mainstream retail issue.” Seventy-two percent have left a store earlier than planned because it felt overwhelming — 81% among respondents who identify as neurodivergent. Seventy-one percent “would shop more often at a quieter, lower-stimulation store.” The No. 1 attribute of a store that feels “genuinely good to be in” is “Lack of technology to allow focus on touching & feeling products.”
“The fixes customers want are not new features. They are the absence of noise, clutter and screens.” JLL asks: “What if retailers designed for how customers want to feel, not just what they want to buy?”
Staff feel it too. “The store environment shapes how colleagues work and how customers respond.” Eighty-two percent want employers to design for their well-being; 80% say customers seem calmer in less cluttered spaces; 53% would prefer fewer screens at work; 38% feel pressure to use technology even when it slows them down.
Atmosphere already travels beyond the register. “Atmosphere creates value beyond the transaction.” Sixty percent say a store’s vibe influences whether they would recommend it, “even when they didn’t buy anything.” Seventy-one percent say “no dedicated photo area is needed if the total environment is compelling.” Sixty-six percent of retail employees have noticed customers filming content in-store. JLL’s instruction: “Create environments worth sharing because they feel genuine, not because they were engineered for a social post.” And: “What if the most powerful content driver isn’t the influencer, but the store itself?” The follow-on line is the usable kicker: “The most shareable spaces aren’t designed as social media backdrops. They’re environments people genuinely want to experience, remember and recommend.”
JLL says the store should not copy the app. It should do what the app cannot. The firm tells retailers to “rethink the role of the store. Not as an extension of digital, but as a counterbalance to it,” through three moves: let people discover products on their own, lower the sensory load, and make the room itself worth sharing. That is the bet in the report’s close: “The future of physical retail will belong to brands that design for how people want to feel, explore and connect, not how algorithms predict they should behave.”
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