Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
If B&M is to have a future it lies down that path. Regional depots serving an abundance of small storefronts.
In the age of online you can't assume customers are willing to travel far to get to the products. In their heydey, the Key trait of BLOCKBUSTERS was their ubiquity. In my area I had two within a 5 minute drive, one heading east, one west. That was in addition to three independent "video clubs" and, later, a Hollywood video. All survived...
...until Netflix popped up and started bringing the disks to the customer.
At that point, ubiquity became a liability.
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And the "instant gratification" aspect cannot be overlooked. Gone are the days when a specialist book store ordered something in for you which took weeks to arrive. Amazon has destroyed that with delivery times that are little short of miraculous. And things are only going to get better, at least for consumers. Amazon is not exactly planing for things like Prime Now to contract! And, of course, options such as drone delivery which not long ago seemed like Sci-Fi are now being actively explored.
And "if B&M is to have a future", as you put it, I think it does indeed lie down the path of being a doorway to this online world, plus possibly some particular retailers where a physical presence is really an advantage. A home handyman needing a hammer on a Sunday morning or someone baking a cake who runs out of flour will probably always want to drive to the local store to get it now. Some products may require retail premises by way of a showroom where people can inspect and try out the physical products.