Why the Growth of Online Shopping Will not Lead to the Demise of Brick and Mortar Stores
“Among other offerings, consumers will need to patronize brick-and-mortar stores for the unique experience—an item that simply cannot be found online.”
The number of online shoppers has been steadily growing over the last two decades. In addition to saving time, online shopping is immensely convenient – all a customer has to do is logon to a retailer’s website, select the items he or she is interested in, make payment, and voila! The items will be delivered home without the shopper ever leaving the house, or even bed! Why then would someone go to a physical store to queue, beat the traffic back home, and waste valuable time when a better way to shop is readily available thanks to the internet and ecommerce apps? The death of in-store shopping is nigh, right? WRONG!
While it is true that ecommerce and online shopping has impacted physical shopping, with some brick and mortar entities being pushed out of business, it should be noted that online shopping will not really completely take over and bring about the demise of the ‘few’ remaining physical stores. Why is this so? You may ask.
Although at first instance one might find it hard to believe and internalize, customers find instant help, assistance, or personal attention to be very relevant and helpful when they need to make a decision about the purchase of a specific product. Personalized attention is a constant feature of a brick and mortar store. This kind of personalized and instant assistance is absent in online shopping, and in its place, we have reviews. Such reviews, however, are never personalized and they mostly fail to address the customer’s specific needs. Whichever way you look at it, this is a feature online stores cannot be able to replicate.
There is also the issue of the social aspect of physical shopping. Visit any mall in any of the World’s capitals on a Saturday...
In essence, physical shopping is an experience. There is no software yet to simulate this. And I doubt there will be any in the coming decades.
Another fact which is often overlooked by those spelling doom for brick and mortar stores is that inherently, human beings are social beings. Being social beings, they would want to interact with others, share experiences, and even exchange ideas. There is a social aspect to a price negotiation, attempt to seek clarification about something, and even the mere exchange of consideration during a purchase. This human contact and experience cannot be replicated in an online sale. After all, ecommerce software is not meant to be social.
Also, unlike is the case with brick and mortar shopping, online shopping lacks in one key area – instant gratification. There is no best way to put thus, but when your phone charger becomes faulty, you do not want to wait for a replacement two or three days later. Similarly, I doubt you would go through the hustle of ordering for a tissue paper online when you could just walk or drive to the nearest store and make a purchase.
Do not get me wrong. The internet is here, and it is changing our lives - and I get it. But the internet is not about to replace life as we know it, and it is unlikely that some activities will just vanish. Do not be in a hurry to write the obituary of brick and mortar stores.
Pitch to the Editor:
Just about everyone believes that physical stores will not be around for another decade. Is this assertion really accurate? No, it is not. I am of the opinion that the society should be presented with information that is not only accurate, but also fact-based. We, who are free thinkers, should present alternative views so as to inform balanced interrogation of facts. Assertions should be vigorously tested. On the…
