The first moves a year back of pure online retailers embracing high street physical store situations is continuing. More online retailers and supplementing online business by opening pop-up (an over used and misunderstood term) shops and more permanent shops.
In the US there is a noticeable trend of online retailers embracing shop trucks – like a food truck but selling other goods.
While some pure online retailers are opening physical stores, the bigger trend is physical stores embracing the true omnichannel (another overused and misunderstood term) model. here in Australia, the David Jones department store group is the best example of an omnichannel retailer. They have gone from being a physical store retailer to a model where they will be where, when and how their customer wants. Reports suggest this is working for them. I am not talking here about a website and a shop. No, What David Jones has started doing is far more involved. It’s built on the new paradigm for retail – that people are shopping 24/7 and that they are in charge.
With some of what we sell the omnichannel approach is not as key, especially dated product such as newspapers and magazines and emotion-centric product like greeting cards. However, how people consume print related products continues to change and this will impact those areas of our businesses. For example, for many today, they consume news through Twitter and reach out beyond that when a story sparks their interest.
These – omnichannel and how people access and consume print related product – are just two opportunities before newsagents today. Good business planning is all about us understanding and leveraging these opportunities. No newsagency supplier will resolve this challenge for us.
More reading: the Financial Times report from a few days ago; BBC News report from November 2013.