Online shopping may not be the future of retail

The internet has changed the way the retail world functions. Consumers are now able to shop from their kitchen tables, at work or while on the train, enabling them to check out products and reviews online and shop at their leisure. Merchants have experienced changes from online shopping as well, and some who embrace online stores have the potential to see cost savings. However, not all retailers are focusing on internet sales.

Changing some retail markets
Consumers are shopping online for a variety of reasons - they're pressed for time, the goods they seek aren't available in local stores or they simply prefer to avoid long lines and crowds by shopping on the web.

Retail stores have experienced big changes since implementing online stores, especially those that have a large amount of internet sales and put a high focus on their online shopping experiences. With the advent of e-commerce, stores can keep fewer goods at individual locations and more in storage facilities. This means they are often able to reduce logistics costs by shipping most finished products to several facilities rather than hundreds of stores across the country. Retailers are also sometimes able to reduce their operational expenses. If enough shoppers are purchasing products online, it limits the need for additional in-store staff members, and cuts down on visual merchandising costs and rents for large retail spaces.

Some merchants not advancing
Even though online shopping is successful for some retailers, it hasn't caught on with all merchants. Forbes reported that Pier 1 Imports has focused more on their brick-and-mortar profits than their digital sales. After shutting down their e-commerce department for about five years, it has only recently reopened its online shopping center. The company isn't opposed to web shopping, but it has doubled down on its store sales, and the strategy has worked positively for its sales.

Pier 1 tries to keep its online store as similar to browsing in-person as possible, and it has seen impressive growth from this strategy.

There are plenty of other stores that also believe traditional in-store shopping is what customers prefer, and even though lots of people are shopping online, many do prefer to browse in person. Data from ShopperTrak reported that at this point, only 8 percent of retail sales are the result of e-commerce. The difference can be seen in the experience of interacting with staff, watching demonstrations, checking out visual displays and being able to touch products. These are all reasons consumers like the in-store experience. This means that while many merchants appreciate the potential of online sales, it doesn't appear as though physical stores will be losing business any time soon.