All around the world shopping centers and retailers are closing. So far in 2017 there have been 9 retail bankruptcies in the US (there were 9 in 2016 all together). Shopping center majors’ J.C Penny, RadioShack, Macy’s and Sears have each announced more than 100 store closures.
These numbers are very likely to continue their decline with the continued growth of online retail which has been largely symbolized by Amazon (if you want to read my thoughts on the impact of Amazon in Australia have a read here).
The lazy mind will tell you that this problem is not solvable. That the mountain is too great and retail stores are too small. The lazy mind will tell you that we should all pack up shop and surrender to the Amazon juggernaut. But this just isn’t true.
Yes, Amazon’s intense focus on building technology that creates an incredible experience for the customer has allowed the company to grow to dizzying heights (their share price now hovers at $900 without a single dividend being paid). Yes, the physical shopping experience now starts online for most customers with 80% of people start their physical shopping journey on their mobile phone.
However, studies are showing that 90% of all people still prefer to shop in-store, with a massive 98% of Gen Z (the most online-inclined age bracket) preferring in-store to online. So, what then is the solution? How do physical retailers not only protect their sales but get their shopping centers and stores to thrive?
By featuring in search.
When would-be customers are searching online for stores that meet their needs and for interesting shopping destinations in the offline world, retailers need to be the ones that are discovered first. Successful retailers will be the ones who feature on page 1.
However, simply featuring high in search engines is not enough. To actually attract customers to shop at their stores, retailers need to organize all of the information about their store so that it:
- Is location-centric
- Provides a world-class experience for the customer (like Amazon)
Or in other words, when I want to physically purchase a pair of Levi’s jeans in my local neighborhood then the retailer in my local neighborhood needs to appear on page 1 in Google. It then needs to tell me where they are located, how to get there, and that they have the exact pair of jeans that I want. Finally, it needs to have the stock in store and deliver this whole process in one seamless, intuitive and engaging experience.
To date, retailers have not done this well. You can do this experiment yourself. Try searching for the location of a couple of less well-known brands on Google in your local neighborhood.
Chances are that you received a series of results which aren’t actually a good answer to the question you were asking. These links did not help you to find the physical store that stocks your favorite product in a location near you (if you did – let me know at george@booodl.com. I’d love to see what you found!).
