Retailers are adopting elastic strategies, business models and technologies that keep up with evolving shopping habits and preferences.
And it is the innovative companies that are striving to give consumers the best of both the online and offline worlds.
The history of retail goes back pretty far: from London’s first department store opening in 1796, to the rise of big box retailers in the 1960s.
Then to Amazon and eBay launching in 1995. In today’s modern age, almost two billion people buy products online.
When the internet emerged—and subsequently, social media—traditional retailers were forced to ditch solely in-store concepts that once made them successful, and adopt more modern, digital strategies that put them in front of their target audiences.
While the concept of online retail posed an initial threat to brick and mortar, it lacked key in-store benefits, like the ability to try on clothes for fit or the ability to wear an accessory the same day it was purchased, but it still caused a vast amount of store closures as e-commerce came to be known as the future of retail.
Technologies, particularly those powered by artificial intelligence, all play a major role in merging the two shopping experiences through their ability to both process data and drive more interactive experiences.