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CEO CORNER: THE GREAT BALANCING ACT OF ECOMMERCE VS BRICK & MORTAR

Ruben Martin Nov 10, 2022 12:58:36 PM

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. 

blog, D2C, B2B, sell online, ceo corner, ecommerce, retail, brick-and-mortar


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