The New York Times says people actually like to shop, so Amazon will not be putting retailers out of business: Hard Lessons (Thanks, Amazon) Breathe New Life Into Retail Stores, NYT, Sept 3, 2018.
Tiffany is Analogous to Upper-End Rug Market
The article says that weaker stores and malls have gone out of business; the Penney’s and Sears are in difficulty. But and that places like Tiffany who is re-investing in their physical stores are doing quite well. The Tiffany example is analogous with the upper end of the rug market. They attribute success to improving the shopping experience and incorporating technology. Tiffany has 320 stores doing about 90% of their business, and they are on the high side for percentage of online sales.
PWC Annual Consumer Insights
In more depth, PwC published their annual “Consumer Insights” based on 22,000 interviews in 27 territories with essentially the same conclusions taking an upbeat position on: Consumer Optimism, Artificial Intelligence, New Business Models, Consumer Trust, New Consumer Habits, and Delivery Expectations.
In Store Experience Critical – Speed of Delivery Essential
Delivering a rug really means moving furniture. Young and OLD favor online—old because of delivery. When expectations have been created online, they will have to be
Dense delivery areas favor online. Mobile favors online. (25% of our viewers are mobile for example). Young and OLD favor online—old because of delivery. (Delivering a rug really means moving furniture.)
Brick and Click is the emerging model.
