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Traditional retailers have long grappled with multichannel strategies, but now it is etailers considering whether they need a bricks-and-mortar presence to compete. Rebecca Thomson reports.
Amazon has launched collection lockers, Net-a-Porter opened a pop-up Bond Street window shop, Kiddicare is to open a 12-strong national chain of superstores, Ocado unveiled a virtual shopping wall at One New Change, and plus-size home shopping brand Simply Be has opened two stores in Liverpool and Bury. In the last few months, etailers' ambitions have started to stretch beyond their online remit, and they're approaching the physical world of retailing with the same panache they show on the web.
"There's an overwhelming reason for us to open up destination stores," says Kiddicare chief executive Scott Weavers-Wright. "Brand loyalty is important to us in the respect that customers want to touch and feel our products."
My-Wardrobe brand partnership director Antony Hawman adds: "It's gone full circle. Bricks-and-mortar businesses wanted to get online, and now we're all trying to get back out into the real world." This doesn't just mean stores, and neither does it necessarily mean retailing in the traditional sense. It could mean extending the brand into the physical world by organising events, or using a real-world presence to improve your online service - as with Amazon's delivery lockers, which allow consumers to pick up their orders from lockers in shopping centres. The answer to the conundrum will differ for each business. What's important is that it's being considered.Money in multichannel
"Multichannel customers spend better and more, and for us it certainly makes sense," says Geoff van Sonsbeeck, founder of online womenswear retailer Isabella Oliver. "Etail will always be our most profitable channel but a lot of customers are not buying online. Leveraging your brand in the bricks-and-mortar world makes sense."
Not only does an offline presence help etailers cement their brand, reach new customers and generate awareness, it also makes good business sense, says Pixmania chief executive Ulric Jerome. "Even though the ecommerce market is growing quickly, in general people still spend their money offline. About 80% of customer spend is done offline and we wanted a bit of this market share," he says.
Pixmania has 17 stores across continental Europe, the first of which was opened...