Retail Architecture: Brick and Mortar Stores Still Dominate

A couple of weeks ago, the nation experienced Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  According to the National Retail Federation, more than 141 million unique shoppers participated in Thanksgiving weekend shopping this year.  While Cyber Monday has drawn more consumers year after year, brick and mortar stores still rule the market.

Despite easy to use websites, free shipping offers, and often avoiding the burden of sales tax, all accessible from the comfort of your own home or virtually anywhere else, online sales still only account for about 6% of total retail sales in the United States.  Data released by the U.S. Census show e-commerce sales are up 18% from this time last year.   In addition, recent statistics show that shopping on smart phones and tablets is exploding.  That upward trajectory will undoubtedly continue as tech-savvy millennials continue to advance in their careers and have increasing disposable incomes.  Millennials (those born between the years 1981 and 2000) are not the only demographic utilizing the internet for shopping by any means, but are the quickest to embrace new technology and are the target audience many retailers are trying to capture. 

As some stores are becoming showrooms for their online competitors (e.g. Best Buy), others are more successfully combating the online retailers.  How you may ask?  Brick and mortar stores are inherently better in some categories than any e-commerce site could dream of being.  Even if online retailers end up with drones to deliver merchandise to your door in under an hour (see Amazon’s recently announced test project), the consumer still cannot touch, try on, or tinker with a potential purchase before they buy it.  Once an item is bought and paid for at a brick and mortar, the transaction is complete and there is no waiting for delivery, meaning instant gratification.  Also, shopping in a physical store is a more social experience than shopping online.  It can be experienced with friends or you can seek the council of an employee face-to-face as you compare products side by side.  The experience is both the access to the merchandise as well as the overall experience of the built environment.  This is where we as architects fit into the equation.

The store can be as iconic as the flagship stores of REI in Seattle, the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, or as simple as a clean, inviting store that is properly stocked and staffed by knowledgeable and friendly employees.  The latter is obviously the more common, with a “refresh” every few years.  Whether a company is looking to build a brand new location or if they are going through a refresh process, an architecture firm like JL Architects can be instrumental in keeping the brand fresh and the stores appealing to the consumer.  Even though the online retailers get a lot of attention in the media, traditional shopping is here to stay.

 James A. Stedman IV, LEED AP BD+C