Directory of Major Malls
Directory of Major Malls

Don’t Close Your Stores Just Yet

By Joe Keenan

In his opening keynote presentation at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Denver, Jerry Storch ,
chairman and CEO of Toys”R”Us, stated his case why brick-and-mortar
stores still play a vital – and often profitable – role in the retail
industry today. While it’s true that e-commerce sales are growing at a clip faster than the traditional store model, the fact remains that the vast majority of consumer purchases still occur within the confines of brick-and-mortar stores.

This is certainly the case for Toys”R”Us and its 875 Toys”R”Us and
Babies”R”Us stores in the U.S. As for the reasons why brick-and-mortar
stores are still smart investments for retailers, there are a couple of
inherent advantages to the channel, Storch said:

  • shopping in-store is a national pastime for many, especially women;
  • some product categories are better suited to be shopped for in-store (e.g., apparel); and
  • the immediacy of the store experience.

Physical stores make sense for retail brands from a P/L perspective
as well. Stores are the most efficient delivery vehicles for products,
Storch noted. Everything bought in-store is free shipping. In addition
to not having to pay the costly shipping expenses that online retailers
are burdened with – “free shipping” has to be paid for somewhere, Storch
said – brick-and-mortar retailers can offer high-quality customer
service that can be hard to find when shopping online.  Read the complete article

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