As grocery chains reeled at the Amazon purchase of Whole Foods, brick-and-mortar establishments steeled themselves to the idea of smaller profit margins attempting to compete.
According to an article in Fortune by Phil Wahba, it’s not just the margins that will get smaller. Consumer demands are different and that has led to the exodus from enclosed malls and the explosion of strip malls as the retail landscape changes.
Social media encroachment has meant less socializing at the food court and the need for customers to step out of their car and into the store. Facetime has replaced window shopping and Facebook marketing has the ability to reach far beyond the sidewalk.
Barnes and Noble, booksellers, reported a 7th consecutive quarter of declining sales, which has led them to a new strategy: reduce the number and variety of non-book items and present the books in a more inviting manner. This also means downsizing the store square footage, which currently averages 26,000 square feet.
In the e-commerce era, dominated by Amazon, others will be doing it too. Stores will shrink to an average of 10,000 square feet and will dedicate more shelf space to unique items. Target has announced plans to promote small, “urbancentric” stores, which will generate two times the sales per square foot of its current locations. Kohl’s, which has partnered with Amazon to market its products, plans on downsizing too.
Internet sales, artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, drones, and robotics – all destined to change the world we have known.
Reader Comments(0)