Chris Brogan, one of the Web’s foremost thought leaders on social media and online communication, recently published a post on his blog in which he expressed his frustrations over the state of face-to-face retail. He, ultimately, concluded that there is little value to shopping at bricks-and-mortar establishments for most products these days.
Without getting into the full details of Brogan’s retail misadventure (a search for the Timberland Earthkeepers brand boot), his frustration stemmed from contact with a string of apathetic store associates who lacked knowledge of Timberland’s new line of boots.The negative aspect of his shopping experience was exacerbated by the fact that the Timberland store he visited had not yet received their first shipment of the company’s new Earthkeepers boots. This element of the experience grew exponentially worse once Brogan returned home and found the shoes in stock on Zappos.
In summing up the whole experience, Brogan wrote the following:
I guess, in thinking this all over a bit more, I’ve come to realize that there’s really very little reason to walk into a brick and mortar retail store for most products these days. I can research better on the web. I can get better opinions on the web. I can find better deals via the web. And I can actually order something that was advertised, when using a web channel.
What does that tell YOU about retail?
Chris Brogan’s large community of readers responded en masse. While a large number agreed with his criticism of Timberland (”Why couldn’t the guy working at the original Timberland store pull up their corporate website and order them for him?”), some felt remiss that Brogan didn’t offer actionable marketing or customer service solutions to improve face-to-face retail.
Shifting one’s behavior to only shopping online, is not the answer. I wholeheartedly agree that the majority of face-to-face retail experiences underwhelm when compared to the online alternative. That doesn’t mean, however, that bricks-and-mortar retail is relegated to a subservient position to its online counterpart; or that consumers must accept that most in-store experiences will leave them wanting more.
Bricks-and-mortar is not destined to become an irrelevant relic of the pre-digital age. If anything, deficiencies in bricks-and-mortar service create opportunities for change. I believe that we are headed toward a bricks-and-mortar retail revolution. The Web has fostered customer expectations that call for quick, efficient, and flexible service. With countless alternatives to shopping in stores filled with disenfranchised, apathetic associates, retailers cannot afford to let their bricks-and-mortar establishments become customer service graveyards.
E-commerce has changed the game for retail. Customers expect to find what they are looking for in an instant, receive recommendations based on recent purchases, and, ultimately, have the ability to shape their own shopping experience. Retailers need to take technologies from the Web and bring them into bricks-and-mortar. They need to equip associates with devices and technologies that enhance their product knowledge. Associates must have digital tools at the ready. They need to have detailed product information at their fingertips at all times. They must have the ability to pull up real-time inventory information, access product fact sheets with the push of a button, and offer store patrons customized assistance.
The days of unknowledgeable associates being the status quo are over. The lessons learned through e-commerce and web-based shopper analysis call for more robust in-store experiences. Just as e-commerce storefronts offer targeted shopping experiences based on consumer preferences so too must physical stores fluidly respond to the needs of different customers.
The solution isn’t to transition to online-only sales channels, but to demand that face-to-face retail fulfills the same needs that consumers have come to expect online. Bricks-and-mortar retail is far from being as efficient, technologically-advanced, or flexible as it could be, and should be. This is one of the reasons why digital signage and self-service technology are such exciting fields to be in. Empowered consumers require retail experiences that speak to their individual needs and desires.
Dave Haynes is one of the most experienced people in the still-nascent digital signage industry. He has held senior management and business development positions with some of the biggest names in the industry. He’s also well-known and respected as one of the most widely-read industry authorities through his blogs, Sixteen:Nine and Buzz, Not Buzzwords.This is the second time around for Dave as new media pioneer, having been one of the first large daily newspaper editors in North America to put his paper online. Haynes brings a strong technical and operational perspective on the industry, as well as communications skills developed over 20 years working in print journalism. 
