In NMA last week there was a feature on the retail-etail debate: what is the recession doing to our retail environment, what can successful online retailers teach the offline world, and vice versa?
On the one hand the internet offers us the breadth of choice, convenience of armchair shopping and delivery to our door. But fulfilment issues, unremarkable customer service and clunky e-commerce sites too often sour the experience.
Meanwhile, although traditional retailers struggle to offer the same range of goods at competitive prices, they do (or could) beat many etailers when it comes to real customer service and after-sales care.
In the future, will we see a closer fusion of off- and online retail? Perhaps, but the internet isn't the only thing threatening the whole culture of shopping (ie going to a town centre or mall and browsing the shops). In my home town, independent High Street retailers have been complaining for some time that the combination of over-zealous parking restrictions and competition from bully boy supermarkets is ruining their livelihood.
So how will we shop in the future? Online for specialist and niche, superstores for commodities and just about everything else, plus a handful of historic pedestrianised destination theme-towns for shopping-as-a-leisure-activity?
