There is no doubt that online retail shopping is catching an ever grown share of consumer spending currency. The advent and growth of e-commerce in the market industry have brought endless choices, price efficiency, and convenience. All these components are powerful for the consumer’s decision-making criteria. E-commerce has become more efficient in buying products and continue to find ways to deliver commodities more cheaply and quickly.
Despite all the successes of the e-commerce industry, it falls short of delivering unique and qualitative experiences for retailers and consumers. People’s ability to interact socially with the outside physical world has steered their shopping behavior. They have become much more reluctant to give it up.
Taking chances in social experience into consideration, it is reshaping consumers’ expectations. Nowhere is this concept more evident than shopping malls that have covered significant ground surfaces of modern cities. Places such as hotels, entertainment venues, or academics have started backfilling vacant spaces previously occupied by traditional departmental stores to create a more offering. Restaurants are at the forefront of opting for a role in this transformation. As a result, total restaurant sales have exceeded the sales of grocery stores.
In the same way, real estate investors are also adapting to this changing environment by rethinking the structure and flow of shopping centers. In these circumstances, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) makes the market economy more efficient at a full pace. Vast acres of parking stalls used for vehicles are soon replaced by smaller and efficient queues for autonomous vehicles into interactive space for sales.
According to a report released by Forbes, the total retail sales from the e-commerce industry are rising since 2010. According to reports, the sector had generated over 73.2 billion since then. Despite this success, brick and mortar are still doing much better in the retail world by witnessing 94% of all retail sales. Other reports stated that most global populace, or about 75%, is more conducive towards shopping in brick and mortar stores.
One of the surveys named ‘Retail Drive’ asked as much as 1500 consumers what makes them opt for the physical store for shopping? The most crucial reason they cited them was the ability to feel, see, and try out the purchasing item. Besides, another drive for physical shopping is prompt gratification. Having a retailer available for assistance is not an essential draw to shop in brick and mortar stores. More significant is the experience of in-store shopping, especially for consumers under 35.
Reason for Choosing Online Shopping
While prompt gratification may incline consumers to a physical store, convenience is what draws them online retailing.
Being able to shop at any point in time or anywhere is a significant encourager that generates more than $295 billion in a single year. With this percentage expected to rise to $420 billion by the year 2018, the ability to shop even at midnight hours is an essential consideration for several shoppers.
More consumers tired of the hassle shopping at stores, such as standing in a long queue or dealing with the overwhelming crowd at shopping centers, as a reason for them to turn to online retailing for purchasing items like clothes, electronic appliances, etc. Especially business persons who immediately need to have all essential business items such as bookkeeping details for financial records. Another area to decide on purchasing online is the shipping procedure. Consumers tend to buy from an e-retailer that offers free shipping and return.
Which industry Pays more Attention to the Demand?
The opportunities for brick and mortar markets do not negate the issues and challenges e-commerce channels intermittently face. Mismanaged inventory, coupled with predicting demands, lead to a decreasing sense of convenience and customer service.
Those brick and mortar stores that are yearning to compete with their online retail counterparts, forestalling the demands that retreat them from offering promised convenience is the key.
Who is the Winner?
Different consumers have different preferences for shopping or payment. Some of them solely enjoy the efficiency that online retail offers through its rapid delivery service. In contrast, many others continue to applaud the physical presence of a business along with their capability to get what they want in a person. No one can overtake another, which is why it is beneficial and convenient for the business industry to regard multiple ways of paying or shopping, referred to as ‘Omni commerce’.
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