There is a shift happening between retail and online shopping, but I'm not sure anyone truly understands where we're heading. Aggressive competition and free shipping offers are great for consumers but they're driving down business to ecommerce companies. At the same time, shoppers still love showrooming and getting to touch and feel the products that they're looking to buy.
Another hurdle for pure ecommerce companies is the growing number of states applying sales taxes to ecommerce companies due to pressure applied by retail outlets. (This one really gets me riled… taxes are necessary to support traffic, safety, fire, police, etc. at a retail outlet. Often the ecommerce company isn't even fulfilling their orders in the same state).
The retail outlet may be safer than most people realize, providing a showroom and pickup point for shoppers that want it now. However, there's no doubt that online sales are transforming the way business is done. Retailers must have an amazing online presence where they can extend their reach to replace the traffic they aren't getting into the store.
eCommerce really is retail's new storefront. We created this infographic to give advertising and marketing strategists a heads up as to which industries are seeing the most online sales and insights as to why people are shopping online. Have your sales increased since the shift to online shopping? Or possibly you’ve seen sales decrease. If you are in the retail space or offer services that can be purchased online, this infographic is for you. Peter Koeppel
The infographic below points to the number of retail outlets closing while space has been maintained. Retail stores are shifting from stocked shelves to showrooms where marketing and customer service must be optimized. In my opinion, if you have a retail outlet or an ecommerce site – but not both – you may be heading for difficult times.
Koeppel Direct is a multi-channel direct response company that has extensive experience managing some of the most successful lead generation campaigns on television.
