📌About the Event

Phygital HORECA Experience Design 2026 is an international innovation and design competition launched by a leading multinational coffee company in collaboration with Desall. Participants are challenged to research existing “phygital” experiences—experiences that connect physical hospitality spaces with digital services—and develop an original concept for the coffee and HORECA sector. The aim is to improve customer engagement, personalization, brand relationships and measurable business value through innovative physical-digital interactions.

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ℹ️ Event Details

• Category: Design, Innovation, Customer Experience & Digital Technology
• Mode: Online submission, with participants required to conduct field research and photographic documentation of real-world customer experiences.
• Contest type: Single – New Idea
• Participants must study phygital experiences across independent HORECA businesses, HORECA retail chains and non-HORECA businesses.

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📅 Important Dates

• Submission opens: July 31, 2026
• Optional concept review deadline: September 15, 2026 at 1:59 PM UTC
• Final submission deadline: October 29, 2026 at 1:59 PM UTC
• Client voting begins: October 29, 2026

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🎯 Eligibility & Rules

• Eligibilty:
• Participation: Individuals may submit one or more projects through the official Desall contest upload page.
• Required work: Submissions must include three benchmark studies—an independent HORECA business, a HORECA retail chain and a non-HORECA experience—plus one original coffee-sector phygital concept.
• Field research: Participants must photographically document relevant customer journeys and physical/digital touchpoints.
• Submission language: All abstracts, descriptions, tags and other project text must be in English.
• Images: Up to 5 gallery images; 4:3 format is required/recommended, with a maximum size of 1 MB per image.
• Additional research file: A ZIP containing the research document and supporting images can be uploaded, up to 100 MB.

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🏆 Benefits for the Participants

• 1st Award: €1,000
• 2nd Award: €1,000
• 3rd Award: €1,000
• 4th Award: €1,000
• 5th Award: €1,000
• Total advertised prize pool: €5,000