With these internet-fueled changes gaining traction among retailers, developers of shopping centers are weighing the new choices that these technologies are bringing consumers, comparing them against brick & mortar’s limitations, and beginning to respond with changes of their own. Along with convenience, these stores offer the latest styles, reasonably priced, updated quickly and continuously, in ways that simply weren’t possible before. Fast-fashion retailers like Zara, Uniqlo, TopShop, H&M and Forever 21, who are harnessing the power of internet-based technology in all aspects of their business - design, manufacturing, and logistics - are growing very rapidly and in many cases taking over larger spaces once inhabited by big box retailers like department stores and large home electronics showrooms. The internet has also impacted retailers in ways that go far beyond their physical space or their online presence.
Many retailers are also attempting to make elements of their online experiences similar to their stores, and some retailers, most notably Burberry in the UK, are going the other way, attempting to integrate elements of their online presence into their physical stores - through software that allows virtual trying on of clothes, or live links to events in other stores or even other countries.
For retailers who practice this approach, prices are consistent in all formats, and consumers can choose between numerous options: shopping online with home delivery, shopping online and picking up at a store, shopping at a store and taking merchandise away, or shopping at a store and having it delivered to their home.
Meanwhile, omni-channel retailing has converged the online and offline shopping experiences. If you look at a successful mall today versus twenty years ago, you will see a much stronger and more varied collection of tenants now than ever before, and shoppers have the internet and e-commerce to primarily thank for this more tailored collection. While logic would suggest that this downgrade in the importance of physical stores would lead to less interesting designs, on the contrary the ability of retailers to communicate and build brands online has actually led to more focused and impactful physical store identities as well. The internet has allowed retailers to connect with potential customers and express their brand in entirely new ways, and physical stores have become a part of their communication and sales strategy instead of being their only or primary way to reach consumers. One of the internet’s early effects was to foster a much greater proliferation of specialty retailers than ever before - retailers with a unique point of view but not necessarily a need for a tremendous amount of floor space. But with the rise of e-commerce and in particular mobile e-commerce, the distinction between online and offline is blurring rapidly. Online and offline were once two very separate worlds.