The Experience Economy is a way of looking at how designing an experience around a basic product or service can enhance quality and add financial value to a business.

A good example is coffee.

You can buy coffee beans to make coffee at home

OR you can get someone else to make and serve you a cup of coffee in a cafe

OR you can go for a take out coffee at your favourite Starbucks/Costa/Cafe Nero and receive your coffee in a branded cup perhaps with your name personalising it

OR you could go into a well designed interior space and have a Costa Coffee in an environment and location that has been designed to create an attractive ambience and a delightful and immersive experience.

The taste of the coffee that you make from beans at home and the taste of the coffee as part of the experience will be identical but the branding, interior, location, service and ambience create the experience that you are paying for.