RETAILING 2020

   Mark Twain was a rock star of the late 19^th century.  Unlike today where any star can be continually tracked through technology, people didn’t have the same access to their idols.  As he aged and infrequently spotted in public, gossip swirled that Twain had died.  He famously remarked, “The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

   Rumors of retailing’s demise continue to be greatly exaggerated as well.  Amazon, the great bricks-and-mortar slayer, just reported sales and earnings on Thu.  Sales grew 20% in the 4^th quarter of 2013 but earnings were less than 1% on sales.  The market punished the stock by sending it down 7% overnight because they aren’t making much money with their business model. 

   The world’s largest furniture retailer sees their future in-store.  Though IKEA started as a mail-order company, had 10 million new app downloads last year and saw online sales grow 20%, chief executive Peter Agnefjall says, "I think that in 2020 the absolute majority of sales will still be in our stores."  http://lnkd.in/drYKMCC.

   People still want to touch, feel, smell, taste and more fully experience many products before they buy.  Shoppers buy more when they can engage more of their senses.  That’s why the best retailers see that it makes sense to engage and enthrall shoppers, something that cannot be completely accomplished online.

   By 2020, new retail formats and technologies will emerge.  Many retailers of today will perish by then, especially those that fail to choose the right merchandise, the right messages and the right ways to deliver them to an evolving consumer landscape.  I predict without fear that that new landscape will include many great new retail stores.

IN-STORE WILL BE MORE LIKE ONLINE

   Think of your favorite store.  Do the people who work there know you?  Bet they do - and that's partly why you like to shop there.  My daughter loves our local Subway because they always know that she’s “six-inch Italian chicken breast toasted with lettuce & lite mayo.”  They know her.  And that’s part of the reason we like online shopping.  We share information online and feel amazed that they know what we’ve bought before, what others like us have bought and when we have a birthday!  Duh.  They capture and leverage information.

   In-store experiences will become more like online – interactive and personalized – as we get comfortable sharing more information and doing so becomes seamless.  Imagine someone greeting you in a store with a tablet that includes, with your permission, your recent online searches, purchase history, sizes, preferences, etc.  They could help you successfully find and purchase goods.  Shopping becomes better.  Everybody wins.  

   The technology is already available to make these in-store experiences more online-like.  Barriers are (a) retailers investing in equipment, (b) staff training and (c) shoppers getting comfortable with the intimacy.  Since we already share much online, notwithstanding Target’s recent security breach, and we actually appreciate feeling like we matter to the store associate, I don’t see the last one stopping in-store shoppers from having in-store experiences that rival – or exceed – the best online shopping experiences.

   What examples are YOU seeing of in-store becoming more like online shopping?