Why Traditional Retailers Have the Checkout Blues
RMI Executive Director Kirthi Kalyanam speaks to the Christian Science Monitor in this in depth article focused on how COVID-19 pandemic has made 2020 an inflection point in the rise of online shopping at the expense of physical stores, a shift on par with the postwar boom in shopping malls.
The Christian Science Monitor
Christian Science Monitor Cover Story - "Why traditional retailers have the checkout blues"
Amazon, which already provides free two-day delivery to Prime members, now offers one-day delivery nationwide for a fee and same-day delivery on select items in several cities. Its Amazon Fresh grocery service lets shoppers pick a two- to three-hour time slot for delivery.
Stores will increasingly become places to showcase products rather than to stock inventory, says Mr. Kalyanam. Online retailers will re-create their online persona in a physical space: Think Apple stores or Lululemon. And consumers will have multiple ways to buy their goods. Stores might not even carry inventory, but promise to deliver your purchase from a nearby warehouse in a half-hour.
“Fast forward three or four years, you’re going to have ... five, six different big, familiar ways of shopping,” says Mr. Kalyanam. “Shopping as fun will come back, and bricks-and-mortar will be stronger than ever before for shopping as fun.”