The flurry of stories about collapsing high street stores and the growth of e-commerce is leading many people to draw the conclusion that bricks and mortar retail is dead.
Last year in the UK we saw 5,855 high street stores close, with fashion and footwear outlets being the hardest hit according to statistics compiled by The Local Data Company.
The problem is one that is getting progressively worse, and this year both Toys R Us and Maplin buckled under mounting pressures, resulting in the loss of over 5,000 jobs.
E-commerce refers to the buying and selling of products and services online and offers both consumers and businesses a plethora of benefits.
For businesses, e-commerce gives them the ability to overcome geographical locations and take advantage of global markets while also gaining new custom thanks to the potential of search engine visibility.
So, in an ever-expanding digital society, how can retail stores continue to compete?
Personalize customer interactions
Sure, e-commerce platforms can offer customers speed and accessibility in equal measure, but one thing that they struggle to provide is that personal touch.
Many people that visit retail shops are looking for an experience, so it’s important for business owners to instil this idea into their workforce. Ensuring that every single employee is engaged while they are at work, are knowledgeable of their product range and are approaching customers to offer recommendations and support all help to strengthen interactions.
Up the ante with merchandise
If retail stores really want to compete, they need to be offering their customers something that they won’t be able to find elsewhere. Exclusivity is a great USP and is guaranteed to keep customers coming back for more. Brands could even consider making their own merchandise which could be personalised with designs and colours.
Offer flexible payment
Some online stores have already cottoned onto the benefits of this, with leading e-commerce site ASOS having fairly recently teamed up with Klarna to give shoppers the option to buy now and pay later. There’s no reason why bricks and mortar stores shouldn’t follow suit though. Partial payments, split payment and layaways are all options that businesses could consider.
Go online
This doesn’t mean stores should throw in the towel and funnel all of their energy into their website, but instead means that stores should recognize the potential of having some sort of online platform. Luckily there are many cloud-based solutions offering up templates and other tools to make creating a website relatively easy.