Unconfirmed reports emerged earlier this week linking Amazon.com and RadioShack Corp. in talks over Amazon taking over a chunk of Radio Shack's mall-based stores as the debt-straddled electronics retailer prepares for an expected bankruptcy reorganization.
However, whether or not such a deal materializes is immaterial. The fact is, sooner or later, Amazon, Google and several other online retailer will likely become much larger players in brick and mortar retail space.
The omni-channel phenomenon is becoming increasingly prevalent among retailers and is already starting to create new stores and bringing in new customers, as well as forcing retailers to freshen up their store offerings and space. This in turn, is bringing shoppers back in the door with their phones in hand.
To be successful retailers, we must embrace omni-channel. Complete transparency and real-time information of inventory in the store and warehouse is essential and must be seamless to the customer,” Mathrani said. “Removing barriers to buying spurs customers to purchase more.”
Regardless of a potential Amazon / RadioShack deal, Amazon is already well on its way to a brick and mortar presence. At the end of 2014, the online retailer had already opened up 15 'sortation centers' (think big box store) across the country, Amazon CFO and senior vice president Tom Szkutak reported.
Zappos, which began as an online reseller of footwear, recently opened its first-ever store, a 20,000-square-foot shop in Las Vegas. The store offers shoppers the same technology as its website, while offering the added dimension of actual goods.
“To these retailers and many others, the physical store is about advertising a business in a way not possible online. The store allows them not only to sell products but also sell their brand,” the GGP CEO said. “They have all come to the conclusion that they need to have a brick-and-mortar presence to be profitable. Online is an incubator for brick-and-mortar. And they do this at the hub centers and urban retail.”
