The Future of Brick-and-Mortar Stores: Showroom Only?

As e-commerce, social media, search engines and customer data mining using complex algorithms become more developed – remember, many of these online tools are less than 10 years old – one cannot help but wonder what the future holds for the fate of brick and mortar retailers.  Will anyone be purchasing products in a physical store ten years from now, or will we simply visit a “showroom” to experience the product before we decide to buy it?  There are a number of online retailers who may be in the process of destroying the traditional retail model and creating a new paradigm:

Bonobos: Men can visit their tiny brick-and-mortar store locations to check out the brands latest looks and try on clothes, but must make the purchases online and have them shipped to their home or office

Hointer: At Hointer, which now has 3 pilot stores open in the West, shoppers download the Hointer app to their smart phone.  Shoppers walk through the physical showroom and browse merchandise which is on full display and hangs from suspended racks.  If the shopper likes they item, they scan the bar code and are able to select the appropriate size on their phone.  Once all selections have been made, shoppers select the “Try On” button on the app and are directed to a fitting room where all of their selections are waiting for them.  If they do not like an item, they simple drop it into a return bin in the fitting room and item is removed from their shopping cart.  This model has the most potential to revolutionize the retail industry, which on average generates profit margins of 3-5%, by reducing costs associated with inventory, re-stocking, stock-outs, employee labor while simultaneously erasing many of the negatives associated with shopping (digging through piles of jeans for the correct size, unkempt fitting rooms, having to carry merchandise around the store as you shop and waiting in long check-out lines). 

Alice.com: Of all the products a consumer is least likely to buy online, household items probably appear somewhere near the top of the list simply because many of us purchase them in brick-and-mortar stores only when we need them.  Alice.com may change this attitude as they offer household products from 185+ manufacturers and enable the customer to buy directly from the manufacturer itself (think of them as the Kayak.com of household items).  This concept is further explained in this clip. 

Warby Parker: Warby Parker prides itself on being the “Netflix” of sophisticated, affordable eye wear.  Customers can pick up to 5 pairs of frames which are shipped to their house at no cost.  After you try on the frames you return them while placing an online order for any frames that you want to buy.  Warby Parker has now opened “showrooms” in various urban locations so clientele can touch and try on frames in the store.