Another telltale sign of the holiday shopping season is the mushroom like proliferation of pop-up stores as clicks retailers attempt to tap into bricks shoppers.
Among the formerly web-only retailers opening physical stores are Indochino, Birchbox, Gemvara and Bonobos. In addition, here has been quite a buzz this fall about rumors that Amazon would open temporary physical stores for the holiday season. As more e-commerce retailers weigh their options to follow suit, there are some points that should be considered before doing so.
Amazon is the most visible example of the rising trend of “clicks-and-mortar”—an expression from the early days of the dotcom boom; describing offline retailers going online. Today the reverse is true; it’s used to describe online retailers opening temporary physical retail spaces that pop up for a very brief period of time. Etailer beware—it isn’t necessarily for everyone.
In Spreadshirt’s case, we deal with brands and influencers that are looking for global coverage, and it would take hundreds of shops to match the millions of visitors we get via online search, sharing and white label shops.
The top five points of consideration for a “clicks-and-mortar” approach include:
Shopping-mode audience
An offline retail space would allow brands and entertainment businesses that use our platform, to reach an audience already in shopping mode. Physical shops can sometimes give consumers a much stronger introduction to your brand. In-store visits can become opportunities to drive re-purchase or incremental sales online and reach new consumers. The new reach could be a positive benefit.
Market research
The introduction of pop-up stores would give us insight into how buyers select products. Customers like to look at various color or design options available before buying online.
Offline stores could provide interesting data for online sales. We often do testing in the field, and have someone dedicated to this. It is interesting to see how customers vary by country. However, not everything needs a tactile touch—merchants selling T-shirts, hoodies and phone cases do very well online precisely because they are not high-risk, tactile purchases.
The desire to purchase is primarily driven by product design and messaging. There will always be some higher cost and more tactile products that consumers will want to physically touch. However, many e-commerce retailers are deftly managing high return rates, so this concern has been alleviated or eliminated for many items. Many products do not require the in-person touch test to purchase and keep.
Mobile workability
Tablets and smartphones are changing the way we shop, and the rise of mobile commerce can definitely be the link between offline retail and e-commerce. The experience of being able to curate and compare real products and complete the transaction later at your convenience is becoming increasingly important and can only be done with the addition of mobile technology and an offline offering. Mobile shopping will continue to merge the boundaries of clicks and bricks.
Focus on the overall customer experience
What matters now more than ever, is ‘the overall experience’ whether offline or online. With so many local and international online competitors able to steal your customers, a bad experience can likely lose them. It is critical for offline retailers to provide a good online experience, too. Otherwise the shopping experience is not complete for the consumer when they leave the store. An eager shopper that has to wait to check out may decide to order online instead of standing in line at a register—especially with a rapid shipping option.
Online brands are as experiential as any offline brand, and customers always want good service and value. If you provide this, your brand will grow by retention and recommendation. However it is much faster online than any offline retailer can manage since the audience is global. Not to mention, offline retailers can provide poor service and value, meaning their brand will never grow. It is very difficult to attract a limited base of new regional shoppers when word gets out about negative experiences.
Regardless of who you are, what you make or how you sell it, the focus should be on providing customers a seamless and superior omnichannel experience.
Logistics and focus
The biggest challenge for online retailers considering an offline move is one of logistics and focus. For example, Spreadshirt has over 500 employees around the world who are all specialists in online marketing, e-commerce experience, mass customization and rapid direct-to-consumer fulfillment to 190 countries. None of them specialize in running a scaled offline retail business.
There are thousands of differences between both channels—everything from the thought process to the supply chain, staff management, up to the customer experience in the offline environment. There are also new issues to consider such as shoplifting, stock damage and cash transactions.
It would be reckless to decide to move offline without taking into account all these considerations, and e-commerce retailers looking to make that move should really look to find an experienced retail partner before doing so.
As the CEO of a global print-on-demand e-commerce platform, I have often considered the possibility of opening a physical store. But, to be honest, it has been a low priority compared to growing the several tens of thousands of online shops on our platform and in the 19 markets we currently operate in. Focusing on the sales potential of having several routes-to-market for Spreadshirt and our sellers is our multichannel approach that will remain an important part in our company’s long-term strategy.
Ultimately though, what really matters is creating an integrated omnichannel business that truly creates connections across multiple channels and drives value to consumers. This is what inevitably leads to business success.
Spreadshirt, a web-only retailer of custom-printed T-shirts and other products based in Germany is No. 218 in the Internet Retailer Europe 500.
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