Coles Group (ASX:COL) is one of Australia’s two supermarket giants, a defensive heavyweight on the ASX 200 whose stores are a fixture of daily life for millions of households. In a sector often defined by price competition, efficiency and scale, the grocer is signalling an interest in something less conventional: borrowing customer-experience thinking from the world of premium retail to reshape how it engages shoppers.

The inspiration being referenced is the kind of immersive, customer-obsessed approach exemplified by specialty beauty retailing — the “magic” that turns a transaction into an experience and a shopper into a devotee. Applying that philosophy to supermarkets is an…