State of Brick and Mortars and E-Commerce

Charese Embree of Fynd discusses the need of Brick and Mortars and e-commerce to co-exist

Malls are changing and e-commerce has a lot to do with it.
Photo by Greg Viloria / Japantown Merchants Association

With all the typical anchor tenants like Macys, JC Penney's and Sears reeling from profit erosion and losses, are Malls dead? Last year, retail intelligence provider PlanetRetail in their "Future of Retail: 10 Trends for Tomorrow" predicted that half of all malls will close. The one's that do survive will look quite different. The report seems to indicate that those who survive become more experiential and mall stores become showrooms with an e-commerce fulfillment backend. Almost back to the old 60's trade centers where centers promoting international trade between countries would carry only a handful of goods to "touch and feel." Brick and Mortar woes isn't all Amazon's fault with ease of shopping, fulfillment and returns as a recent Brandchannel article cites. 

Will a shift back to traditional local neighborhood Brick and Mortars be a possibility? Brick and Mortars will need to provide an experience and be coupled with e-commerce as discussed in a recent NPR article.  We talk with startup founder Charese Embree of Fynd piggybacking on her experience coming from a Brick and Mortar background and now e-commerce startup. Charese shares her view of how Brick and Mortars and e-commerce can co-exist. 

"[e-commerce] You can have 5 billion options for the jacket of your dreams...and with Amazon you can have in two days..it is changing the instant gratification for the shopper"

"In store, people can be price resistant and buying more than one size seems frivolous"
"Brick and Mortars need an online presence as well...if they sell something on-line and heaven forbid they(client) has to return or exchange it and it is that second time that the client can make a second purchase"



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