Let’s go back to January 30, 2013. Netscape co-founder and big-time investor Marc Andreessen has just predicted the “absolute death” of traditional retail. While the claim isn’t accepted as fact, there is plenty of buzz about retail’s demise. Fast forward almost a decade and it appears that any talk of obituaries may have been slightly premature.
While ecommerce grew exponentially in the 2010s and received a stratospheric boost during the pandemic with retail stores closing down, consumers still favor in-store shopping over online. Mr. Andreessen would never have predicted a 2022 survey finding that 54% of consumers still prefer brick-and-mortar to any other retail channel.
The Future Is Omnichannel
So, the question I’ve been asking myself is, where do we go from here? It’s clear that binary thinking on this issue is not the way forward: the two channels shouldn’t be in competition with each other. Rather, an omnichannel strategy that treats ecommerce and brick-and-mortar as two prongs of the same fork is what gives companies a competitive edge in the current retail climate.
The pandemic largely accelerated the widespread implementation of omnichannel strategies. While consumers were initially forced to forego brick-and-mortar shopping entirely, they were able to experience the benefits of multi-channel fulfillment options like BOPIS and Curbside Pickup once restrictions eased.
Rather than reverting back to previous shopping patterns, consumers have developed a taste for omnichannel. In fact, expectations for the customer experience are higher than they’ve ever been.
Don’t Look Up
Even pre-COVID, 73% of shoppers were using both brick-and-mortar and ecommerce during their shopping journey. It’s pretty clear that both channels are interconnected, but the question we should be asking is “how do you get the balance right?”
By not looking up, for a start. Many big players have tried to find the right balance and ended up getting it painfully wrong. Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke recently acknowledged that his bet on “the channel mix” becoming significantly more ecommerce focused hasn’t paid off. While his belief that the pandemic would usher in a new era of commerce wasn’t entirely wide of the mark, his neglect of the continued importance of brick-and-mortar ended up costing the company.
Shopify hasn’t quite solved the puzzle and Amazon’s attempts haven’t set the world on fire either. The multinational giant has dipped its toes into brick and mortar but again struggled to strike the right balance. If you’ve seen physical Amazon stores popping up in the last few years, you may have also noticed that many of them are already closing. Likewise, the $14 billion acquisition of Whole Food in 2017 was meant to pave the way for future hybrid models, but it’s currently “hard to see how the brick-and-mortar strategy is helping.”
Future Proof
So how do you get this balance right? It’s easy to point out others’ failings, but making the right decision yourself is another question.
Neither the giants of commerce, mom-and-pop stores, nor Mr. Andreessen himself have a crystal ball. Going back a few years, very few of us would have seen the pandemic, war in Ukraine and the supply chain crisis on the horizon. But does that mean you should just wait and see what happens? Far from it.
Now more than ever is a moment to build resilience by future-proofing your business. And the good news is you can get that elusive online and brick-and-mortar balance right while you’re at it.
Specialty brands often struggle with this balance, but the solution isn’t that complicated. By working closely with the retailers who stock their products, specialty brands can guarantee a great in-store customer experience while simultaneously enlivening their online presence and sales.
The team and I at Quivers believe we’ve got the balance right. Specialty brands come to us not only to boost their online sales but also to gain insight into the shop floor. We facilitate fulfillment using in-demand delivery methods such as BOPIS, White Glove Delivery and Ship-from-Store, and uncover the data needed to make important decisions on future operations. Our sophisticated DTC toolkit provides specialty brands and retailers with a wide range of customizable software that pushes them ahead of the competition.
With over a decade in the game, we’ve seen up close and personal how getting the ecommerce and retail balance right can pay dividends. We can’t give you a crystal ball, but with our technology and know-how, we don’t think you’ll need one.
