Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
In recent years, the rise of ecommerce and online shopping has had business-owners reevaluating the value of their brick and mortar locations. Over time, many companies have transitioned their online commerce options to compete with companies like Amazon. However, with the rise of online shopping and its popularity with the general public has come another realization: brick and mortar stores are not yet obsolete.
Shoppers still enjoy physically seeing and touching products before they purchase. This is an important factor into their overall decision to purchase a product. Customers want to feel assured that products feel and look reliable, sturdy and worth their cost. While online shopping is convenient, but there can still be some uncertainty of the color, quality, texture, etc, of a product that a shopper might not have previously purchased. Seeing it in person gives a sense of security in knowing what consumers are getting for their money. In addition, urban cores within many cities are beginning to grow, which makes shopping even easier to do in person.
There will always be a need for physical retail, which means there will always be a need for the solutions that are necessary in these spaces. From POS systems to cash drawers to scanners, each of these solutions still serves a major purpose in brick and mortar shops that are not going to be vanishing any time soon.
Additionally, physical shops should be well equipped with an ecommerce platform for customers who would like to shop online or browse the store’s offerings before coming in. Often, consumers may purchase products online but return them within the actual store, as this is seen as easier. This gives employees within the facility an opportunity to upsell these consumers, or offer additional purchasing options. It is thought that there is guilt associated with a return and in their mind it doesn’t seem like they are spending any extra money because it was already spent with the first purchase. This means a potential for increased revenue.
Online shopping may not be going away, but neither are physical retail stores, which mean there is always a need for supplying and selling in-store related solutions to the end-user. Focus on upselling items such as digital signage, or software that will help business-owners better integrate their physical stores and their online ones. Encourage them to purchase items such as 2D scanners that can read barcodes off of smart phones or from their website, alongside POS systems that can process everything. While online shopping likely won’t diminish in the coming years, it’s important to recognize that brick and mortar locations aren’t obsolete and can still thrive, with the right technological solutions.
Co-contributor: Katie Irwin
