It’s not about which selling model will “win” in the end. Bricks and mortar stores will continue to change to meet the needs of shoppers as will on-line stores. Neither are perfect but the development potential for a more rewarding shopping experience for both retailers and customers is enormous.
Personally I believe that in a couple of years time we will have a similar total number of bricks and mortar stores as we have today but many of them will both look different and be operated in different ways. The price of entry will be an exception focus on what’s best for customers and we are just at the beginning of understanding how to really capitalise on digital. On-line shopping as we know it to today is only one part of a much bigger digital picture. In the digital world of retail we are currently at version 1.0. It’s going to be an exciting time and not all existing retailers will make it but many will and they’ll be joined by new retailers with new ways of working and new ideas.
Grasping this opportunity to really do good things for shoppers and create new ways of working is much more rewarding than speculating on which current model, bricks and mortar or on-line is best. Welcome to mutlichannel and omnichannel.