The Retail Store is Still Here & its Changing

While online shopping has become more popular, the brick and mortar business is still around the corner. In fact, according to Smart Company, the retail store is transforming.

New Rules

The purpose of retail stores in Australia is changing. Originally, brick and mortar businesses were the sole way of making money and moving product. But the convenience of online shopping has changed the game.

The new purpose of the retail store is to deliver experiences and brand exposure. The aim is to enable customers to experience the product and create a moment that will entice them to make the purchase.

Some Australian businesses have already come up with their own ways of creating these moments through automation. Jeans shop Hointer has a mechanical system that delivers jeans to the customer's dressing room. Shoes of Prey has tablets in locations that enable customers to design their own product.

New look

With this new purpose, the size of the store and staff will change. Square foot will become less relevant which means you will need fewer employees. Only knowledgeable staff members will be needed.

New metrics

The way to measure success will change as well. Web analytics such as page views and bounce rates will be integrated to the physical store.

Multi-channel access

Physical retail stores will become a part of the whole retail process, rather than the first and last point of contact. Thanks to social media and the internet, they can now connect with customers through different channels. Online retail stores will inevitably have big data on their hands as they get more information but they have to provide something in return.

This means that customer expectations will change. You need to provide access everywhere. Online marketplace eBay is testing a courier service that can deliver products a couple of hours after they're purchased no matter where the customer is by tracking their location.

New competition

Small businesses need to think big or else tech savvy millennials will outrun them. Nowadays, a twenty something can easily set up an online shop while still living with their parents, or kick-start a new product through crowdfunding and get instant followers.

It may take some time to get accustomed to online retailing, but it’s worth moving into the digital space, especially if that's where your customers are.