RETAIL: What’s the Future In-Store?
Listed under: News
Published: Thursday, April 10, 2008
A new report from the Centre for Retail Research reveals that the future of retail lies in combining bricks-and-mortar stores with online channels. The Store of the Future 2012-2015, commissioned by Visa Europe, predicts that internet sales will account for almost 20% of turnover by the forecast period. According to the research, almost 29% of retailers are expecting a drop in visitor numbers to their stores.
Karen Osbourne of Pulling on the Glitz in Southend on Sea doesn't believe that her online business will ever compete with the service she offers in-store. “We use both now but the website is definitely a subsidiary,” she says. “We are predominantly a bricks and mortar store and we use the site as an advert. We have products on there but it's not the be-all and end-all. With a bricks and mortar store you have overheads, where an online store doesn't, so we don't try to compete on that level. I don't think that we'll find that one platform will outperform the other. We have a lot of customers who like to handle the things we sell.”
The study, which involved 300 retailers across seven European countries, also highlights that stores will demonstrate an increasing reliance on in-store technology. But Karen doesn't see a place for this. “We like to spend time with people. We are known for being quite quirky and approachable and that is how we build out customer base. We are not computer driven and it would detract from the service.
“The internet is great for disseminating information. We send our newsletter out to our email database and have a hard copy in store. We also email class schedule lists. We print hard copies for in-store but we have noticed that we are having to print fewer.”
Karen Osbourne of Pulling on the Glitz in Southend on Sea doesn't believe that her online business will ever compete with the service she offers in-store. “We use both now but the website is definitely a subsidiary,” she says. “We are predominantly a bricks and mortar store and we use the site as an advert. We have products on there but it's not the be-all and end-all. With a bricks and mortar store you have overheads, where an online store doesn't, so we don't try to compete on that level. I don't think that we'll find that one platform will outperform the other. We have a lot of customers who like to handle the things we sell.”
The study, which involved 300 retailers across seven European countries, also highlights that stores will demonstrate an increasing reliance on in-store technology. But Karen doesn't see a place for this. “We like to spend time with people. We are known for being quite quirky and approachable and that is how we build out customer base. We are not computer driven and it would detract from the service.
“The internet is great for disseminating information. We send our newsletter out to our email database and have a hard copy in store. We also email class schedule lists. We print hard copies for in-store but we have noticed that we are having to print fewer.”
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I agree with Karen Osborne. I too have a webstore and from experoece and customer feedback the customer likes to use the webstore as a ‘key hole’ to the bricks and mortar store, to view the products, collate information on things such as directions and opeing times.
We too email a newsletter/class schedule to around 50% of our customers and additionally we send a hard copy to those not on email. A copy is both instore, which new customers tend to pick up, and a copy is on the web.
Whilst there is a place for on-line retailers it appears if someone lives within a resonable distance from the store they would prefer to visit and ‘feel’ the product rather than buy online and many a customer has expressed this view and say that is also why they would not purchase from the television either.