Bricks & Mortar Retailers Join Threatened Species List

Bricks & Mortar Retailers Join Threatened Species List

In this guest post, CEO of StewArt Media, Jim Stewart (pictured below) says things look decidedly bleak for Aussie bricks and mortar stores. However, he adds, it need not be all doom and gloom…

The announcement that Bose intends to close 119 stores across Australia, Europe, Japan and North America should come as a warning to offline retail outlets.  Online shopping is far surpassing walk-in outlets.

According to Google, interest in the Black Friday sales eclipsed Boxing Day and reached record numbers in Australia in 2019.

While traditional big box retailers like Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi have seen interest in Black Friday nearly double year on year, online interest in Harvey Norman on Boxing Day was down 5 per cent from last year and JB Hi-Fi only saw a modest 10 per cent increase.

Searches for ‘click and collect’ also reached new highs, which confirms speed of purchase and low friction sales processes are the path to more revenue whether you’re a play online retailer, bricks and mortar outlet or a hybrid.

Job losses can be minimised if retailers maximise sales from their online outlets.  This is an important consideration when you take into account the implications for the Bose employees currently working in the retail outlets.

Agile retailers, irrespective of size, are already taking advantage of increasing online spending by analysing the online shopping patterns of customers and making it as easy as possible to find and purchase the right product.  Often minor changes can result in basket sizes doubling with minimal additional costs.

However, simple retail practices that have been developed for decades in offline stores are not being transferred online.

For instance, many retailers ‘mystery shop’ their walk-in stores but very few apply the same practice online.  An online mystery shopper can often identify major blockages impeding additional purchases.

Recently, we did an online mystery shop of a client and found it was very difficult to locate the checkout. How ludicrous would it be if you went shopping at Bunnings but couldn’t find the checkout? It’s amazing some retailers sell anything online with what they make the customer go through.

When you walk into Bunnings you are not met with a sign directing you where exactly to shop yet so many ecommerce sites have a ‘shop now’ or equivalent banner on their home pages. These design elements on retail sites are indicative of where ecommerce is not understanding the customer psyche.

Offline retailers don’t make you navigate past a series of billboards, banners and pop ups before you can actually find a product.  If they did, they would lose sales. Conversely, when these things are removed from ecommerce home pages, sales go up.

Customers want to find what their looking for, understand the cost, make a decision and check out as quickly as possible. No one likes to be kept waiting.

Offline this is achieved through staff, store greeters, a logical store layout and clear ticketing. Ecommerce sites can achieve a similar experience by having a fast loading site, making internal site searches prominent, having clear navigation, making shipping costs prominent during the buying process and checkouts that are simple and fast.

When the buying process becomes quick and simple, not only do transactions increase but so do basket sizes. If it’s a convoluted process to find a product, understand what it costs and put it in the cart, research has shown that customers are going to buy fewer products.

One simple mindset change for online retailers that would begin the process of increasing sales, is to stop treating your home page as a shop window and start treating it as the front counter of your shop.

More online sales means more jobs for packaging, delivery and manufacturing.  Closing the bricks and mortar store doesn’t have to be doom and gloom.  However, capturing additional online sales in a competitive environment needs more analysis of online consumer browsing and purchasing habits.

So, the challenge for Bose and other retailers is to keep the online mystery shopper approach and to keep refining and adapting the online retail environment to suit the customer rather than the website designer.




Please login with linkedin to comment

Jim Stewart

Latest News

New BrandStory Format From Bonzai Allows 3x More Ad Space on Mobile
  • Media

New BrandStory Format From Bonzai Allows 3x More Ad Space on Mobile

Creative technology platform Bonzai has announced the launch of BrandStory – a new premium mobile ad format. BrandStory offers triple the ad space and 2.8 times greater time in view than single scroll ad formats, addressing the surging demand from brands worldwide for more real estate to drive real results by seamlessly intertwining awareness, exploration […]

B&T’s Search For Australia’s Greatest Ad Heads To Channel 7
  • Advertising

B&T’s Search For Australia’s Greatest Ad Heads To Channel 7

B&T went through the looking glass this morning, with editor-in-chief David Hovenden (above) appearing on Channel 7’s The Morning Show to get the general public involved in our search for Australia’s Greatest Ad. Hovenden chatted with Kylie Gillies and stand-in host Matt Doran about what makes a great ad and showcasing some of our favourites […]

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
Opinion: The Tall Planner’s Kate Smither On The DBA Dilemma
  • Opinion

Opinion: The Tall Planner’s Kate Smither On The DBA Dilemma

The science is not in question – smarter people than I, with far more data, have codified it. The logic is not up for grabs…it makes sense that creating mental shortcuts to your brand keeps you at the top of your mind. Lead image: Kate Smither – Owner, The Tall Planner I wouldn’t even take […]

Opinion

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
African woman using a cellphone in an office alone
  • Marketing

Ortto & Tall Bob Partner To Deliver Better SMS & MMS For Australian & NZ Businesses

Two Australian-born technology providers have joined forces to bring more power and choice to marketers in Australia and New Zealand with mobile messaging that is more local, cost-effective, and integrated. It’s a partnership that sees two Australian software companies come together to deliver a world-class mobile-first solution for marketers building data-driven, personalised, omnichannel campaigns. While […]

Slew Of New Hires At Snap Inc.
  • Media

Slew Of New Hires At Snap Inc.

Snap Inc. has announced a number of new recruits. B&T unaware if it positively impacted SEEK's share price.

Reddit Gets Playful Brand Refresh
  • Technology

Reddit Gets Playful Brand Refresh

This will be of interest to any Reddit fans, graphic designers or lovers of an orange so bright it burns the retinas.

Zitcha & Broadsign Partner To Drive Global In-Store Retail Media Market
  • Advertising

Zitcha & Broadsign Partner To Drive Global In-Store Retail Media Market

Zitcha and Broadsign have teamed up to integrate the Broadsign out-of-home (OOH) advertising platform with Zitcha’s retail media platform. The collaboration empowers retailers to maximise and monetise in-store digital display networks and enables advertising partners to easily view and book available in-store inventory and review campaign performance alongside the retailer’s other media channels. With the […]

Double Rainbouu & 7-Eleven Launch Exclusive Summer Fashion Label
  • Marketing

Double Rainbouu & 7-Eleven Launch Exclusive Summer Fashion Label

Today, 7-Eleven has announced a one-of-a-kind collaboration with the popular Sydney-based anti-resort wear label Double Rainbouu. Dropping tomorrow, December 1, just in time for summer, this limited-edition capsule will infuse the fashion brand’s rebellious spirit with a distinctly iconic 7-Eleven flavour. The unisex collection features five must-have styles comprising two signature Hawaiian shirts, a peaked cap, a bucket hat […]

realestate.com.au Extends Major Partnership With Sydney Swans
  • Marketing

realestate.com.au Extends Major Partnership With Sydney Swans

Australian property site realestate.com.au has announced the extension of its partnership with the Sydney Swans for two further seasons. Lead image: Tom Harley, Owen Wilson and Tom McCartin realestate.com.au has partnered with the Swans since 2016 and has called the back of the club’s iconic guernsey home since becoming a major partner in 2020. This […]

Avenue C Nabs Paula Lopes From KINESSO
  • Marketing

Avenue C Nabs Paula Lopes From KINESSO

Leading independent media agency, Avenue C, is thrilled to announce the appointment of Paula Lopes as Digital Director. Paula, a seasoned professional with over 17 years experience in the media industry, joins Avenue C from her role as Chief Operations Manager of KINESSO (merger of Reprise, Matterkind, and Kinesso specialities).

oOh!Media Fuses People & Performance At National Annual Revenue & Growth Conference
  • Advertising

oOh!Media Fuses People & Performance At National Annual Revenue & Growth Conference

oOh!media brought together more than 260 of its sales, operations, commercial, marketing, finance and leadership teams last week for its national annual revenue and growth conference. Held over two days at the picturesque Rydges Resort in Hunter Valley, the event ‘Fusing people and performance’ focussed on how to build a high-performance mindset and how it […]