How does the future look for brick-and-mortar retail?

How does the future look for brick-and-mortar retail?  Despite some depressing commentary from the world’s media, it is important to take into account that 66 percent of store closures come from only 16 retailers, according to IHL1. No one can deny that the consistent rise in online shopping over the past years. Therefore, it is inevitable that brick-and-mortar retail would need to adapt to the modern customer to withstand a certain amount of loss of sales.

The ability of brick-and-mortar stores to adapt and evolve is proving to be vital, to maintain the relevance of shopping in-store in a world where e-Commerce is becoming more and more dominant. Retailers must offer great shopping experiences, and those that are making changes seem to be emerging.

According to the IHL Group findings shows a positive growth in US retail. In fact, IHL’s data shows that for every retailer closing stores, two are opening stores. Over 3,800 more stores are opening than closing in 2018 among big chains. As well, through the first seven months of the year, retail sales are up $190 billion2. Therefore, the picture looks extremely bright.

Will retail stores remain an integral part of the retail experience as it ever has been? The data paints a positive picture for the future, it becomes more optimistic paired with the latest research from NRF. Almost 80 percent of consumers told NRF that they are visiting stores as frequently as or more frequently than last year. Even more remarkably, this number goes up by 5 percent when you sample the often maligned Millennials and Gen Z. 3 KPMG predict by January 2019, 90 percent of all retail will still be done in physical stores, also stating the key is remaining on your toes for customer experience. 4

It’s important to note that retailers adapting to the technology are fuelling the continuing presence of brick-and- mortar retail. Retail is a highly competitive and being innovative with store experience, and as the use of technology becomes more prominent in store, the future of brick-and-mortar retail will be bright.

1 https://www.ihlservices.com/product/retailradicaltransformationrealopportunities/

2 https://www.ihlservices.com/product/retailradicaltransformationrealopportunities/

3 https://nrf.com/blog/no-sign-retail-apocalypse

4 https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2018/03/global-retail-trends-2018.pdf