E-Commerce vs Bricks and Mortar: Why You Need Both

At a conference earlier this year, we heard concerns from retailers and real estate professionals about online retailers taking away business.  The concern was rooted in the belief that online sales are increasing and, as a result, sales will erode from bricks and mortar retailers.

This is just one point of view looking at the online channel as competition.  At Archerra we like to view the world from a different perspective.  We view sales as coming from customer demand: the customer demand in every neighbourhood in every market.  From our point of view, a retailer needs to increase sales from customer demand in every way possible wherever it is.

For bricks and mortar retail, this means opening stores in locations that access the demand from where customers live and work.  For online retailers, this means accessing demand from customers visiting e-commerce stores.  The customers in both cases still reside in neighbourhoods and they still have the same demand.  They are just choosing to spend through a different channel.  To increase sales in every neighbourhood, you need to be in front of customers in whatever channel they choose.

This is why retailers need both channels: to be in front of customers both on the ground and online.  In fact online retailers are currently at a dissadvantage because they are only connecting with customers through one channel.  Amazon, the largest online retailer is realizing this and is opening their first bricks and mortar location to increase their presence in front of customers.  Bricks and mortar retailers need to do the same and should have a presence online to complement their presence on the ground.

At Archerra we realize the importance of engaging customers both online and on the ground which is why we have incorporated the capability to analyze customer data for both channels and take into account your total market share in every neighbourhood.

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