Current situation

As in all areas of economic and productive activity, also in the world of commerce, new technologies and the renewed habits that adapt to them threaten traditional systems, namely, in this case, shops. What future awaits businesses as they have functioned to date? A future that is certainly not attractive if they do not know how to adapt and reinvent the service offered to offer a new service that is still useful and respectful of economic principles. E-commerce offers a vast choice of products and sizes, larger than what a single store, or even a shopping mall, can offer.
Not to mention the convenience of being able to choose and order anything in 5 minutes from your home or office. Advances in global logistics, with Amazon at the top for small shipments, guarantee ever faster delivery times and delivery via drones on the balcony of our house is already a reality with the experiments of Google and other big players of its level. The short chain between the producer and the consumer eliminates the need for commercial intermediaries, drastically reducing management costs and, consequently, the consumer price. In this scenario, to return to the theme of this article, traditional shops will not have an easy life.

Possible solutions

However, in favor of the showrooms there remains the irreplaceable and comforting feeling of being able to look, touch and smell the goods that you intend to purchase before the actual purchase. So what possible evolutions for shops to avoid being overwhelmed by the new form of commerce and to continue to enhance their strengths? Someone, in the clothing and accessories sector, has already thought of charging the price to consumers by asking a small commission at the entrance to those who enter the store to see and try the goods, with the promise of a refund in case of purchase of at least one article.
An interesting idea, which however could be unpopular in the long run, losing further competitiveness compared to the free returns guaranteed by almost all e-commerce sites by policy if not by law. It is more likely that those who own a shop end up renting portions of exhibition space directly to big brands or small quality producers who will be able to budget for a window seat in the busiest streets of the city. The less traumatic alternative, already followed by many points of sale, is to set up an ecommerce site, or more simply to sell the products through the channels for sellers prepared by Amazon, Ebay and Aliexpress, just to name the most widespread, and combine online sales with sales in the shops.

Points of delivery

A further step would be to exploit the strategic position in the city or in the single district to offer a collection point service on the model of Amazon’s PuPs (Pick up Points) already taken up, with slight modifications, by other companies such as WishingWell which has recently launched an app with the aim of creating its own wishlist, or shopping list as you prefer to name it, linked to e-commerce to be shared with your friends. In practice, all those who, for reasons of privacy or logistics do not want or cannot receive their parcels at their home, are provided with an on-demand post office service with payment of a small commission upon collection of their parcels at the store. chosen as a pickup point.
The advantage for the point of sale, in addition to the earning of the commission on each delivery, which already promises substantial revenues on large numbers, is to increase the passage of people at your point of sale. This way it is increased both the probability that someone, while is there , also stops to buy, and the visibility of the point of sale on the street. By following these examples, stores will not only be able to withstand the impact of new technologies but even take advantage of them. However, no time to waste any more, it is already time to act!