The retail industry in the past two decades has seen a myriad of changes due to the evolving expectations of consumers and the persistent rise of the Internet. Reports and articles across the market have highlighted layoffs, foreclosures and bankruptcies of some of the industry’s biggest players, essentially constructing a narrative where online-exclusive stores will eventually phase out the brick-and-mortar experience. These reports, however, don’t account for the costs associated with e-commerce development and implementation and how stores are finding new ways to create an omnichannel experience for their customers.
There’s been no end of stories lately about retail store closures, layoffs and bankruptcies, but the real story isn’t about physical retail dying. It’s about evolution — and that outlook is very positive.
–Ifti Ifhar, CEO, ComQi
E-commerce growth has been somewhat misleading in recent years when analyzed in an isolated scenario. For instance, according to ComQi, e-commerce sales have grown by 14.7 percent in the past four quarters and physical stores have grown by 4.3 percent in the same time period. But when converted to sales, e-commerce brought in $13.5 billion whereas brick and mortar reeled in $47 billion.
But that’s not to say that e-commerce hasn’t taken some of the market away from physical stores. From 2009 to 2017, the percentage of total sales accounted for by e-commerce grew from 4 percent to nearly 9 percent. Consumer preferences across generations have continually preferred to make physical purchases. According to BigCommerce,across all generations, an average of 54 percent of all purchases are made in-store.
Physical stores have been in an adaption mindset, returning to old concepts and evolving them to work in this new market. Most recently, many large brands such as Patagonia and Athleta found success after bringing back or revamping their print catalogs. However, at the same time, other businesses found print to be too expensive, with high printing and shipping costs as well as the risk of shipping out catalogs with very low returns on their print investment. The market eventually found a comfortable medium in online catalogs, as the demand from consumers for companies to deliver a coherent, on-brand omni-channel shopping experience rose.
Dirxion online catalogs have successfully combined the aesthetic and familiar feel of a print catalog with the connectivity and versatility of the e-commerce experience. Dirxion offers custom features such as minimal UI and embedding within an existing domain to create a seamless transition from website to digital publication. And because these online catalogs live within a website URL that is accessible anywhere with an Internet connection, shipping costs are essentially eliminated. Most decisions are a matter of how and when to send an e-mail blast or promote the material on social media sites — an opportunity cost, but not heavy expense.
