Question: Yes, Internet shopping is a rapidly surging trend, changing the retail
ID: 356101 • Letter: Q
Question
Question: Yes, Internet shopping is a rapidly surging trend, changing the retail landscape. Will brick-and-mortar retail stores be around in 30 years? Will the Internet and online shopping replace them? A little or a lot? Think of a situation where you went online to do comparison shopping, found what you wanted, and then went into the brick-and-mortar store to get it. Are there certain retail merchandise categories that are less susceptible to online shopping? Name a couple and explain why you think so.
Some hints - Amazon just bought Whole Foods to compete with Walmart's grocery delivery business. Amazon Wardrobe allows people to get clothes online, try them on, and return if they aren't just right. 3D printers may make some categories as simple as downloading a file to your printer, then printing out what you want. Domino's is experimenting with pizza deliver via drone. Lots of changes happening in the retail landscape.
Explanation / Answer
Brick and Mortar stores will always be there and even after 30 years. This is because not everything we buy online can be trusted and people need to go in person, see the product and then buy. The e-commerce companies might provide the option to try the product at home and then buy but what about the time involved in the process? What if the person does not like the product and he has to return it and then order a different version of it? This will take time and people do not have time for anything these days. After 30 years we might see more of online shopping trend but the same time people will get busier and busier. Internet will replace the traditional retail store shopping to a great extent but certain products will still be bought by visiting the retail stores. I compared the price of my iPhone on different e-commerce websites but finally ended up buying in their flagship store as they had an offer at the same time and they provided free insurance for the phone. I could save money by buying the product in the retail store. The two merchandise categories that are less susceptible to online shopping are furniture and large electronic appliances.
I would see the furniture online and then go and buy them in a retail store. This is because furniture represents comfort and that cannot be measured or felt online just by seeing pictures. So I would never buy the furniture online at any cost.
The same thing applies to the large electronic appliances as well. I will never buy a refrigerator or a home security system just by seeing them online. I want to talk to the sales rep in the retail store and understand thoroughly how this works and then buy the product. I do not trust what is written on the website and moreover, I want to see the featured of the product live before I pay for it.
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