Trade Brick And Mortar For Web-only?

Online shopping and group buying is great, but most Canadian consumers feel that there’s something missing.

According to IBM, it’s still worth the effort to have a physical brick & mortar store.  The act of going to the store, seeing the item, feeling its tangibility and leaving with the item fulfills the consumer in a way that solely-online buying just can’t do.

Tadd Wilson, a worldwide strategy and business development expert  for the retail store solution, system and technology group of IBM, a balanced combination of online and mobile technologies which all tie to the physical store, if the solution for most medium to large retailers.

He says it all boils down the evolution of the consumer: “People may be using up-to-the-minute technology, but our brains are basically wired the same way they were 10s of thousands of years ago,”

He uses Kate Middleton as an example, and explains how, despite her title of Duchess of Cambridge, she still feels the need to do her own shopping at Waitrose grocery store every week, despite the fact that she obviously doesn’t have to get her own groceries.

Surveys indicate that despite the convenience of online retailers, people prfer to get their product information from traditional sources. “The number one source where consumers learn about products and compare prices is through TV. The number two source is the store,” Wilson said.

Tech-savvy shoppers are on the rise, and one may think it’d keep people home, but the opposite is happening.  He said “this could be seen the current expansion of many large retail chains such as United States based Walmart which has been going on a global expansion, Target which is buying up Canadian locations and Apple which continues to showcase its products in Apple Stores in various malls.”

According to itBusiness.ca, an Institute for Business Value Retail survey indicates that Canadian’s willingness to use technology to shop is growing. But IBM statistics also show that the retail business in Canada is growing. Overall sales are estimated at $370 billion for 2012, of which just $22.8 billion or 5.9 per cent of this is attributed to online retail.

The report also shows that 79% of Canadians, while using technology to narrow down their purchases, but prefer to visit the physical store to make their purchase. Of those who purchase online, many go to the store to pick up their item.

Lesson learned? Sometimes it’s all about connecting. Whether it’s connecting our hands to the item, or connecting with another human, most of us need more than just pixels on a screen.