Although the growth in on-line sales is unquestionable, that’s not a reason for retailers or manufacturers to take their eye off the ball with Bricks & Mortar.
In the UK a mere 4.4% of grocery sales are on-line and the IGD predicts that this will rise to 8.9% by 2019. OK that’s strong growth but it still leaves over 90% of sales to be accounted for by physical stores.
A similar picture is also abundantly clear in the US where bricks and mortar represents a massive 90% of total retail sales and remarkably the preference for the physical channel is stronger among teens than any other age group according to management consultants AT Kearney.
So there is clearly a healthy future for bricks and mortar in the retail mix, but with the transparency of the internet and the ability of shoppers to search, compare and buy products from across the globe from the comfort of their armchairs what lies behind the on-going draw of the physical store?