Are retail stores existing on life support?

[Hawkmoon]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nordstrom-tries-on-a-new-look-stores-without-merchandise-1505044981

Conventional wisdom seems to be that the days of brick and mortar stores are numbered, and it certainly seems that way. To me, though, it tells me how much out of touch I am with younger generations. I would much prefer to shop in a real store, rather than cruise the Internet and try to choose based on poor or Photoshopped images and incomplete and misleading product descriptions.

To me, if physical stores are dying, it's something they've brought on themselves. I used to spend a lot of time in the automotive aisles at stores like Wal-Mart, and in the tools and hardware departments at Sears. Today? Basically gone. There's not much in the automotive aisles at Wal-Mart besides oil, Fram filters (a brand that should have been killed off a decade or more ago), and cheap off-shore driving lights. At the two Sears stores within my operating radius, the tools and hardware department has shrunk to maybe a third of the floor space they occupied just a few years ago. Traffic in the stores is down? Maybe that's because they don't have anything in the stores that people want to buy.

[MillCreek]

^^^For me, the other major annoyance is when I go to a bricks-and-mortar store to buy a specific item, only to find the item is out of stock.  I still like to go to Lowe's, Home Depot, Cabela's, the local hardware, etc. to wander the aisles and see if there is anything I cannot live without, but I do that primarily for entertainment.

[Ben]

I dunno - I see this as a very complex subject.

For items I already know about, or perishables/consumables I'm just restocking on, online is the only way for me unless I run into a killer deal at Costco or somewhere.

For higher ticket items, it really depends on the item. I ordered my last TV from Amazon because I was able to do enough online research to be comfortable doing so, and have been happy with that purchase. When I bought my last laser printer,  I went the other direction and spent a good hour at Staples deciding on which of my top three  I would choose. That included not only verifying size (and there's a big difference between seeing, and even measuring online dimensions, with seeing the actual unit) but also being able to run the demo programs on the printers and run through the menus to see how everything works. Staples actually ended up being cheaper than Amazon for the printer I chose, and also price matched Amazon on toner. Since Amazon would also charge me sales tax*, Staples was the clear winner.

Shoes are an item that  I really want to be able to try on, but are also items that do better online. I never see New Balance in wide sizes locally, and beyond that, a local store, even a specialty store, can only stock so many shoes. Amazon and Zappos have thousands of choices and very good exchange policies if the shoes don't work out.

Vehicles are now items that are being bought sight unseen. Regarding generations, I think this is a good example of younger generations heading in that direction. I'm not opposed to buying a car off the Internet, but the old guy in me won't let me make a $40K purchase sight unseen. I want to sit in the car, examine the car, and test drive the car.

The retail store model is also simply becoming too expensive to support. I don't know that it's the retailers' fault. Places like Amazon are simply much more cost effective. When you have to pay for brick and mortar retail space, and keep yourself well stocked to allow the browsing and "hands on" shopping, you also create a burden for yourself that online retailers don't have.

I think brick and mortar retailers will slowly evolve to something else, though I don't know what. I don't see Walmart going away when they can still provide something like a case of water for 50% less than Amazon. Bulk shipping of items to retail locations is one area where retailers can possibly still save themselves. It's much cheaper than individually shipping, especially heavy items, to individuals.



*I believe it won't be long until everything purchased online gets hit with sales tax (in states that have sales tax). So in something like my Staples example, when it's a relatively expensive item that lends itself to "hands on" inspection by potential purchasers, having the item local at a competitive price could sway many people to get in their car and drive to the store. It still requires brick and mortar retailers to figure out which items lend themselves to "hands on" vs " I don't need to see it first".

[RoadKingLarry]

It is frustrating to go into a B&M store not only for a desired "hands on" of an item but also to support the local B&M store and get "we can order that for you".
Yeah, I can order it myself, get free(included in price) shipping, no sales tax and still spend 5% less and not have to spend an hour in transit.

[HankB]

. . . Traffic in the stores is down? Maybe that's because they don't have anything in the stores that people want to buy.

For me, the other major annoyance is when I go to a bricks-and-mortar store to buy a specific item, only to find the item is out of stock.

I agree.

Take WalMart - I'm old enough to remember when their ad campaigns featured all the "Made in America" merchandise they sold. The long row of dozens of cash registers was usually humming. Now? Mostly imported cheap crap, and it's rare that more than a quarter of the registers are manned.

Or Sears - when growing up, we always bought LOTS of stuff from Sears - Craftsman tools, Kenmore kitchen appliances, Sears brand clothing . . . even remember as a youngster looking at a respectable gun & ammo department.

No more.

Guns disappeared from Sears long ago, and Sears brand stuff isn't what it used to be - I've personally had problems with a Craftsman pressure washer and a Kenmore toaster. Other reports I've seen suggest large Kenmore appliances are engineered to fail shortly after the warranty runs out.