Standing in the 21st century, under no circumstances can we steer away from accepting the fact that the technological mammoth surrounds us at all times; no matter what we do, where we go and how we choose to make things work, technology plays a significant role in molding them. Thus, with the increasing influence of digital retailers, one would commonly expect the brick-and-mortar stores to shut down and shift their trade to the online platforms to enhance both their reach and sales. However, with the rising authority of digital business on retail, it wouldn’t be entirely wrong to claim that the reliability of the consumers is intensified when they can fall back upon physical stores while transacting online.
How can physical stores help?
Two very clear reasons support our assertion that opening physical stores are most likely to increase the sales of digital retailers. Firstly, listing down the products in physical retail is the best form of advertisement and there’s no way of denying it. This implies that when the customers know that they can physically refer to the specifications of a product before procuring them, their trust in its authenticity and credibility is automatically improved.
Secondly, the convenience that consumer experiences while purchasing something from a physical store is unmatched. Even though a string of technological advancements such as VR and AI have changed the face of online shopping forever, the expediency of retail stores invariably broadens retail operations and recuperates customers’ conviction.
Advantages of the physical store
- Like we have already mentioned in the preceding section, no matter how advanced the e-commerce platforms are, the privilege to see, feel and touch a product before finalizing its purchase cannot be competed with. For instance, nowadays a lot of online clothing retailers allow their customers to try the apparels when they are delivered to their doorsteps. This means that depending upon the fit and quality of the product, the buyer can choose to either keep or return it. Shopfitting supplies too, work on a similar principle and statistics show that consumers indeed favor visiting stores rather than obtaining it directly from the digital collection.
- A recent survey concluded that consumers who choose to buy online still want to depend on physical stores before or after confirming the deal. This fundamentally establishes an emotional connection between the customer and the product he is looking for, which in turn, is an indispensable factor to fulfill the prerequisites of market anticipations. Furthermore, relying on physical stores has time and again proven essential to build customer loyalty, fulfillment, and returns, all of which qualify as imperatives to proliferate online sales. Reports also show that consumers look forward to confirming their acquirement on the digital stores and pick it up from the stores whenever there’s a local retailer involved in the sales process.
The bottom line
A generous fraction of the potential consumers of most online brands still depends on the physical demonstration ensued by the corporeal stores. The preview adds equal value to the customers and companies and hence, the revenues of the latter are multiplied by the day.