AI think the biggest thing is that the rise of digital in the 1990s really created a conscious separation between the
items that you know that you need versus the products that
you maybe don’t know that you need—the items that are
“more discoverable by nature” versus the things we want to
“hunt, take, and destroy.”
Q Are you talking about the staples of life—bread, toilet paper, milk, paper towels—the kinds of things that you
routinely consume and that you don’t need to discover
anymore?
A Yes, exactly right. And that can even include things like basic white T-shirts or things from certain brands that
you go back to again and again. You can find it quickly and
just go get it, but it is not like you’re surprised or delighted
by something new and unexpected.
Today, if something strikes our fancy, we can literally just
pick up our phone and buy it with a swipe of a finger. The
statistic is that when people know what they want, 85% of
the time they go to Google or Amazon to find it. They type
that keyword into the search engine, and that’s where they
start their shopping experience.
And the crazy thing about that statistic is that even when
people know what they want to buy, they are not even going
to the retailer’s or brand’s website to find it. It shows you
that people really are shopping in a very particular way for
the things they know that they want.
QSo with that in mind, what is the future of brick and mortar?
AThe future of brick and mortar really comes down to the physicality of the store and understanding the psychology around why a store is what it is. For me, a store has
always existed for five key reasons psychologically. Number
one is the idea of immediate gratification. Two, stores have
been a means of convenience. Three, they have oftentimes
been a means of inspiration. Four, they have been a place
for the tactile or sensory aspects of retail. This is the ability
to touch, to feel, to try an item on in a way that you can’t
simulate online. And then five is really just the sheer experience of being somewhere. It could be creating a memory
somewhere, oftentimes with other people.
Digital, especially by way of social media, can provide the
first three things I mentioned—immediate gratification,
convenience, and inspiration. A digital store can do those
kinds of things as well as—if not better than—a physical
store can, especially when you take into account just how
busy everyone is and the constraints on their time.
So, the only real things that can differentiate the store
of the future from its digital counterparts are its ability to
provide that tactile and sensory experience—by allowing
customers to touch and feel the product—and to give them
the experience of going somewhere and being a consumer,
which you can’t get from your couch.
QDoes that extend across all age groups, or does it tend to be more millennials and younger people who are
looking for that experience?
AYou are seeing it across all demographics. It really comes down to what you can’t or don’t want to do
from the comfort of your home. I’ve written about sitting in
Starbucks and overhearing conversations between octogenarians about how they are purchasing things on Amazon.
It is a real-life thing.
QWe hear the term “experiencing economy.” Retail has to become an experience and not just a place to shop.
So how do stores transform themselves?
AI think the one thing I would caution people is that it is not just about technology. In fact, technology a lot of
times can be a misleading indicator of what the store of the
future will be like. When you start talking about the brand
or the tactile experience and what the store of the future
is, it is always going to be a combination of three ingre-
