Why the brick-and-mortar storefront isn’t going anywhere

Link to original article.

Date: Sept. 10, 2015

Published on: RetailCustomerExperience.com

Below is an excerpt of the full article, found here.

By Christopher Krywulak

There will always be a human desire to see and touch things in person before buying them. Clothing and shoes require you to try them on. There is also a distinctive brand connection shoppers can only experience in physical stores – previously pure play e-tailers know this and have opened stores, pop-ups and even trucks to reach consumers, with more planned in the future. Amazon, eBay, Google, Warby Parker and Birchbox are just a few examples that come to mind.

What Amazon and Warby Parker understand is something all retailers should embrace: In-store and online experiences don’t have to be mutually exclusive. The future of retail is not what online can’t do, but what online can do. Consumers want the best of digital and are empowered by digital purchasing information but they also want a human, physical connection. These desires naturally invite online experiences into the physical store.