In recent years, some have been shouting over the rooftops about the end of retail stores. However, the end of retail hasn’t arrived yet, thanks in part to e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Alibaba. While these platforms have driven many retailers out of business, they are now focusing on building their own brick-and-mortar locations.
While it may sound far-fetched at first, eCommerce platforms may be the heroes that save retail stores. When they open their own brick-and-mortar locations, they plan to introduce features, such as personalization, that made the platforms so successful online. In the end, the eCommerce giants don’t plan on destroying the retail industry. Rather, they just want to take it over for themselves.
The most successful retailers are already taking full advantage of all the new technology available to them. Digitization is the current trend in retail, both online and in-store at brick-and-mortar locations. Going forward, there will be a widening gap in the world of retail between those that modernize, and those that go the way of Blockbuster.
