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| Xianjuan HU/Unsplash |
Yes, online shopping has taken over the planet. Yet, physical retail is back again in a post-COVID-19 world. We call it Retail 3.0, since 2.0 was more about retailers taking baby steps toward building their digital presence.
The return of the native
🕐 60% of companies with physical stores are planning an expansion in 2022.
🕑 Customers still prefer personalized and community-based approaches at physical stores. Retailers are also drawing people for concept testing, building relationships and more.
🕒 Successful online brands are reverse migrating, setting up brick-and-mortar stores. The examples are too many to list here and yes, you could start with Amazon.
And this is not happening at the expense of online shopping, which is also growing simultaneously. Omnichannel is the word of the year (online + offline experiences).
Why brick-and-mortar is buzzing again
🛒 Experiential, integrated and personalized customer journeys which require physical retail. New and innovative experiences and events. Testing new concepts too.
🛒 Community building through clusters and initiatives to build connections between brands and buyers.
🛒 Building bridges between online and offline is also stimulating the growth of physical retail. Stores are taking care of returns and in-store pickups.
If there’s one positive that COVID-19 may have left behind, it’s this new-found duet between physical and digital retail. Who gains? We (consumers) of course.