GIFT AND HOME RETAILER NEWS
A Service of GiftsWholesale.Com & OmegaNet Inc.

Prognosticators will prognosticate and, concerning retail, a lot of the prophets have predicted the end of brick-and-mortar retail as online retail gains ascendancy. But, with apologies to Mark Twain, the rumors of the death of physical retail stores are greatly exaggerated.

Some product types will always benefit from the experience of touch and fit that online shopping cannot provide. Photo by Sam Lion, pexels.com

There can be no question that online retail has been growing by leaps and bounds and the forced pandemic shutdowns only accelerated that process. The U.S. Census Bureaus Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS) shows a steady increase in online sales from 1998 through 2020 at the height of the pandemic, but it also shows that total retail has continued upward and online sales represent one-fifth the total volume of all retail.

Some people actually prefer ordering everything from groceries to clothes to automobiles using their computer, tablet or phone and having it delivered without having to leave their desk or easy chair.

Not So Fast

But "some people" doesn't mean everybody. There are still a lot of people who prefer to shop in person where they can "kick the tires." Some retailers are recognizing that brick-and-mortar stores still are relevant and have a role to play.

In a recent Modern Retail podcast, women's workwear brand Argent CEO Sali Christeson spoke about her young company's plans for the future.

Argent was launched in 2016, so it had barely gotten its legs under it when the pandemic forced the company to close stores, some permanently, but now Argent is ramping back up, both with company-owned stores and through a partnership with Nordstrom.

Speaking of Nordstrom, that retailer's "Nordstrom Rack" off-price brand has renewed its commitment to physical stores, planning to open 20 new stores in nine states in 2023. These stores will support their online presence by providing a place for returns and pickup of online orders.

"From a business perspective," Christeson says, "[physical stores are] immediately ROI positive every time we open a store.... It's much easier to consume in-person versus online — in terms of getting the fit right, getting the sizing right, understanding the quality."

Christeson goes on to talk about the difficulty of communicating quality online compared with in-store and the advantage of brand loyalty. "The second someone converts in-store they become a lifetime customer."

indicates a CAMEO EZ^© web site.