When you decide you want to buy something, where do you start looking? According to Google, 63% of all shopping journeys now begin online. As we have discussed numerous times, COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 changed the way we shop and it only pushed consumers further into digital-first experiences, resulting in breathtaking increases in ecommerce sales. For example, in 2020 Walmart became the second largest ecommerce retailer in the US, while its rival Target recorded huge increases in digital sales. Not only did their sales increase, but so did their profits. It makes you wonder even more about where retail is headed.
Earlier in the month of June, Brian Kilcourse and Steve Rowen of Retail Systems Research published a very interesting and thorough benchmark report entitled Retail eCommerce In Context: The Next Iteration. One of their summary points was, “What we found was that retailers got the job done – yet consumers continue to want more. The respondents’ most frequently cited business challenges include consumers’ demand for more convenience in their online experience, and their expectation that shifting between digital and physical realms will be seamless – certainly more seamless than today.”
And how many times have you seen something online and wanted to see it, touch it, smell it, etc. depending on the product, and gone to the brick and mortar location only to discover it was not there? Too many times has been my experience. It is not surprising then that my twenty-something year old daughter orders almost exclusively online because she gets what she wants and has no issues returning the things that don’t work. But as a business person, I realize there are costs involved with those kinds of transactions that can impact the bottom line.
For apparel and textile companies around the globe, online selling creates new problems…opportunities for growth. The problems, I mean opportunities are not the retailers alone. Finding new ways to excite and involve the consumer is a challenge we all will need to face head on…starting now. The winners will be those organizations that can adapt faster and find innovative ways to get their products in the hands of the consumer. No one has that part totally figured out yet, but someone will. It is often easy to criticize Amazon and Wal-Mart for their aggressive taking of market share, but perhaps the apparel and textile industries should take a more active role in defining how best for consumers to shop going forward.
About AKCEL Partners: AKCEL Partners is a sales consultancy founded by three executives with strong bonds throughout the textile, apparel, brand and retail industries. AKCEL Partners offers strategic sales planning combined with experienced, highly networked sales professionals who give clients immediate access to targeted decision-makers. We are dedicated to meeting or exceeding our clients’ short- and long-term revenue goals. To learn more, go to www.AKCELPartners.com.
