touch screen monitors in brick and mortaar storess made in china

Last month, the e-commerce giant announced plans to launch a 30,000-square-foot brick-and-mortar fashion storefront called Amazon Style sometime in 2022. It"ll be located in The Americana at Brand mall in Los Angeles next to traditional retail brands like Nordstrom, J. Crew, Urban Outfitters and H&M.

This isn"t Amazon"s first venture into brick-and-mortar spaces: It also owns and operates convenience store chain Amazon Go, Amazon 4-star, bookstore chain Amazon Books and Whole Foods Market.

According to the company, the Amazon Style floor will only feature one of each product for sale — much like a typical shoe store. Customers will scan an item"s QR code in an accompanying app to request different sizes or colors, which they can then pick up at a counter or in a fitting room that"s also equipped with touchscreens.

The goal is to display more styles "without requiring customers to sift through racks to find that right color, size and fit," Amazon Style managing director Simoina Vasen told CNBC last month.

Amazon"s website offers countless items made by countless different fashion brands. The new storefront will have to pick and choose its inventory more sparingly.

According to the company"s announcement, the store will focus on apparel, shoes and accessories selected by "fashion curators and feedback provided by millions of customers." It noted that the store will carry labels customers already "know and love," but didn"t name any specific designers.

The focus on space efficiency will allow the store to carry "more than double the number of styles" of a traditional department store, the company said. That"ll mean a heavy reliance on tech, from the store"s app and touchscreens to apalm recognition service called Amazon One, which will provide "fast and convenient" checkouts, the company said in a statement last month.

Employees will still work in the physical store, but their roles will be almost entirely based on customer service, according to the statement. Their responsibilities will include organizing the storefront"s layout, stocking requested items in dressing rooms, assisting shoppers at checkout and managing back-of-house operations.

Some of the technology involved isn"t new: Nike"s flagship store in New York City has an app that helps customers request items in fitting rooms. Clothing and accessories brand Reformationalso only displays one of each item on the floor, and its dressing areas allow shoppers to pose in mirrors with different lighting.

The decision to launch Amazon Style makes at least some sense: Amazon is the largest clothing retailer in America according to Wells Fargo research, but in-store purchases still make up more than 85% of the country"s total retail sales, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The e-commerce giant used to have dozens of pop-up stores selling Amazon-branded products and services, like Kindle e-readers and Prime Video memberships, located within malls, Kohls" stores and Whole Foods locations across the country.

In 2019, the company shuttered the experiment, closing all 87 of its U.S. locations at the time, telling CNBC that it was "instead expanding Amazon Books and Amazon 4-star" to "provide more comprehensive customer experience and broader selection."

Amazon Style will offer a varying array of "women"s and men"s apparel, shoes, and accessories" selected by "fashion curators and feedback provided by millions of customers," the company says.

But even doubling down on those standalone brick-and-mortar stores hasn"t helped Amazon"s physical locations reach the unparalleled financial success of Amazon.com.

In 2021, the company made more than $222 billion in online net sales, while its physical storefronts — 679 of them, including Whole Foods and Amazon Go stores — only earned roughly $17 billion, according to Amazon"s end-of-year filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Still, in-person retail is currently the country"s hot trend: More U.S. stores opened than closed in 2021 for the first time in five years, according tracking by Coresight Research. Amazon could be poised for a similar rebound, with its annual sales in physical stores rising 5.23% in 2021, after dropping nearly 6% in 2020.

With 2023 finally here, there is a sense that the future has actually arrived. We have the technology to make almost anything possible, and that technology can certainly affect various spheres of commerce.

Phygital could describe anything that attempts to cross the divide between the physical and digital worlds, but it is most commonly used to describe a retail experience or a marketing strategy.

There are advantages of both digital and brick-and-mortar commerce. Even though brick-and-mortar shopping is declining, there are still irreplaceable aspects of it that consumers continue to desire.

Studies also show that consumers frequently combine brick-and-mortar shopping with digital shopping in two ways: reading product reviews online, then making well-informed purchases in a store, or touching and seeing products in a store first then ordering online.

Phygital aims to combine the best aspects of digital and physical commerce to create the ideal integrated experience for the consumer and new opportunities for retailers and marketers.

Phygital marketing and retail strategiescan be a lifeline to save struggling brick-and-mortar stores, and some level of phygital implementation is likely necessary for the continuation of physical storefronts.

Phygital is governed by the three “I’s:” Immediacy, Immersion, and Interaction. The first two “I’s”, immediacy and immersion, come from the digital realm, while the final “I,” interaction, comes from the physical realm. A successful Phygital strategy must combine all three of these elements.

VR could be used to deliver a Phygital experience for your customers. If you operate your business in a high-rent area, you could use VR to deliver a unique Phygital experience for your consumer while saving yourself valuable money and square feet.

This brick-and-mortar location equipped with VR to “display” products would allow your customers to have the advantage of interaction with sales associates while having an immersive experience by viewing products digitally through VR.

Phygital experiences can also be delivered in the food and beverage industry. Many food and beverage outlets have implemented touch screen ordering and payment, or even pre-ordering through an app before picking up at the brick-and-mortar location.

This phygital experience is nice for consumers because they still get to experience the interactive environment of the aromas of their favorite restaurant, but with the immediacy of online ordering that allows them to skip the line.

KFC is piloting fully Phygital stores in China. In these Phygital locations, consumers place their orders on touch-screens upon entering the restaurant.

Facial recognition technology is used to complete the payment. This Phygital technology also used AI to predict what consumers might want to eat and offering them customized menu options when they arrive at the ordering kiosk. Some of the food is also prepared by robots in the kitchen. The age of Phygital seems to be the age of the future.

These bots were designed to greet customers and help them find products. This makes the shopping experience much more pleasant for the consumer, especially in a setting such as a hardware store, where customers may be unable to locate multiple products. This Phygital strategy can prevent frustrated customers from walking away without making a purchase if they can’t find a product.

The Phygital experience created by the retail bots at the San Jose Orchard Supply Store also benefited store employees: they no longer had to conduct inventory, because the bots were also created to do this. This Phygital strategy is good for everyone: the consumer, the employee, and the business’ bottom line.

The Amazon Go app charges the customer’s linked bank account or credit card. This Phygital experience allows consumers to skip the hassle of standing in line at the checkout and makes the shopping experience streamlined and convenient for fast-paced American lifestyles.

Mannequins have scannable QR codes that allow consumers to request that a sales associate bring a specific size and color of a certain item to the consumer on the sales floor.

Nike’s flagship store is also Phygital through its instant checkout system, which works in a similar way to the checkout system at the Amazon Go store.

The immediacy here is important: the consumer sees the advertisement and scans the QR code, which can then directly link the consumer to complete the purchase digitally.

QR codes can also expand into other kinds of Phygital marketing. A QR code in an advertisement in the subway could pull up a map leading the consumer directly to a brick-and-mortar store.

Social media can also be employed in Phygital marketing. A retail store in Brazil, C&A, has implemented “social media hangers” that display the number of “likes” a piece of clothing has received on Facebook in real-time.

With this Phygital marketing strategy, consumers can have the satisfaction of browsing C&A’s clothing online, “liking” particular pieces on Facebook, and then purchasing “liked” clothing items from the brick-and-mortar shop.

Because consumers love reading reviews, and because reading reviews leads to product purchases, why not use Phygital marketing to integrate product reviews into the brick-and-mortar shopping experience?

This Phygital marketing strategy could look like this: A consumer enters the store and is able to activate digital touchscreen devices next to each product, which aggregate consumer product reviews from across the web into one place. Or, the customer could scan a QR code next to any product and receive the aggregated reviews directly on their smartphone.

The Magik Book is digitally connected, and as the consumer flips through the pages, related and more detailed content is displayed on a nearby television screen, creating a unique Phygital approach.

This game, in which players picked up Pokemon at various points in the form of augmented reality, provided an unprecedented opportunity for marketers to reach consumers.

Another well-known example is digital push notifications; when a consumer is walking near a particular coffee shop, they get a coupon or other incentive to stop and visit the brick-and-mortar location.

Phygital can also greatly increase the consumer retail shopping experience. A leader in the field of Phygital retail for fashion is Rebecca Minkoff, who partnered with eBay to develop technology for smart fitting rooms in retail stores.

Rebecca Minkoff stores have a selection of physical items on display, so the store still looks like a traditional retail space, but the technological magic happens with the Phygital retail technology implemented in mirrors and fitting rooms.

If you approach the mirrors lining the wall of a Rebecca Minkoff store, you’ll soon realize that these “mirrors” are actually giant interactive touchscreens.

A store associate will bring your drink within a few moments, and while you wait, you can start choosing items you’d like to try on from the “mirror.”

After you’ve made your selections, just walk back to the Phygital fitting rooms; as soon as you enter, your phone and the fitting room mirror-touchscreen will communicate, and the fitting room will know you’ve entered.

An interface similar to Uber is then deployed, displaying the name of your sales associate and when they’ll arrive at your fitting room with the size you requested.

Phygital marketing is a marketing strategy that bridges the divide between the physical and digital world to provide a unique interactive experience for customers, where these two worlds are blended into one. Customers are essentially phygital as they inhabit both the physical and digital worlds. It is therefore important for marketers and retailers to utilize this space between the physical and digital worlds and meet the consumers in between.

Phygital is a term used to describe the divide between the physical and digital world, and is most commonly used to describe a retail experience or a marketing strategy. Phygital makes use of technology to create a digital experience that is user-friendly and seamless for the customer.

Phygital retail is a form of digital shopping that aims to surpass the expectations of customers, in creating an immersive brand experience. The best example can be seen when retailers include customer services such as click and collect or buy online and collect in store. Here the retailers aim to reduce time-wasted in queues or waiting for shipping, by merging the world of online shopping with the customer satisfaction of purchasing products directly in the store.

Microsoft is not launching the Xbox Series X until later this year, but the device is already on display at one Saturn store in Germany. Specifically, Saturn is showcasing the console at its Xperion E-Arena in Cologne. This is not the first time that we have been offered a hands-on look, which was provided by Austin Evans in March.

However, this is the first time that the next-generation console has been seen at a brick and mortar store. The images were posted on Twitter by @KeemaMr and show the console encased in a large perspex box. The console is only a prototype, but it should represent the final design of the Series X. Additionally, the photos show that four feet have been included on the long side of the console, so you could lie the Series X on its side should you prefer.

The Series X still looks rather large regardless of its orientation, but Microsoft is also expected to release the smaller Series S. The company is yet to announce the latter console, but it has all but been confirmed by leaked packaging of a "Robot White" Xbox controller.

It’s no secret that e-commerce has taken the retail world by storm. With online sales projected to reach nearly $500 billion by 2018, it’s pretty obvious that consumers are increasingly doing their shopping online.

If you’re a brick-and-mortar store, you may be a little spooked by this fact, and feel like online shops will negatively affect your business. We’re here to tell you that this doesn’t have to be the case. Rather than being threatened by e-commerce, retailers should embrace it. Setting up shop online allows you to reach wider audiences, be open 24/7, and have more sales opportunities.

Fortunately, moving your brick-and-mortar store online isn’t as difficult as you may think. There are plenty of affordable and user-friendly options in the market; you just need to take some time figuring out the right one for you and implement the solution in your business.

To move your brick-and-mortar store online, you first need to decide which e-commerce platform is right for you. Depending on what you’re selling (and who you’re selling to), you can opt for a full-fledged e-commerce store, get a seller’s account through an online marketplace, or sell via social media.

Retailers who choose this route often do it through an e-commerce platform. These platforms enable you to build online stores and start selling with just a few clicks.

Alternatively, merchants who already have existing websites can immediately set up shop using Ecwid. Just copy and paste your Ecwid’s integration code into your site’s source code, and your store will immediately appear on your website. This process is even easier if you’re using a popular Content Management System such as WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, thanks to Ecwid’s ready-made modules.

ProsYou can fully customize your store– Most e-commerce solutions offer a variety of design tools such as themes or CSS editors that allow you to tweak the look and feel of your website. This ensures that your site is on-brand and that it looks exactly the way you want it to.

You can access customer information — Having your own site enables you to collect customer information (i.e. name and contact details) so you can get to know shoppers better and keep in touch with them even after they’ve completed a purchase.

You can offer richer customer experiences — Running a full-fledged e-commerce site gives you the ability to add more bells and whistles to your store. Many e-commerce solutions support loyalty programs, coupons, or even gift cards. All these extras give customers a richer shopping experience and contribute to higher conversions.

ConsRunning an e-commerce store takes more work– Compared to merchants selling on marketplaces and social networks, retailers running their own e-commerce sites typically have more tasks on their plates. You’re in charge of the entire customer experience, so you’ll have to handle everything, including site design and maintenance, customer acquisition, marketing, shipping, payments, customer service and more.

Marketing and advertising costs can run high– Customer acquisition can be a big challenge for many e-commerce sites (especially those that aren’t established yet). You may need to set aside a sizeable budget to drive awareness and traffic to your online store.

Online marketplaces include sites such as Amazon and eBay. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages you can expect from selling on these sites:

ProsIt’s relatively easier to set-up and maintain your store– Getting up and running is quite easy, and usually only involves you entering your store information and uploading your products. The process is straightforward, and you won’t have to bother too much with the layout, features, widgets, etc.

You’re able to tap into a wide user base– Popular marketplaces already have millions of users. They can put you in front of people who are already searching for your products, thus lowering your customer acquisition costs.

Some online marketplaces market and advertise your products for you– Online marketplaces work hard to drive traffic to their websites, and this, in turn, gets more eyeballs on your products.

Take, for instance, Amazon and eBay. As you can see in the screenshots above, these sites spend money on SEO and search ads so they (and their sellers) can get in front of users looking for relevant products.

ConsYou have little control over branding, design, and features– Online marketplaces give you very little control over the elements of your store. When you’re selling on their turf, you need to follow their site layout and design. This limits your ability to show off your brand’s personality and standing out can be challenging.

Their rules and restrictions may be too stringent for some merchants– You may not have the freedom to sell all your items on online marketplaces. These websites have some rules when it comes what products you can sell, and how you should sell them. Some items even require approval before they can be listed.

You won’t have access to customer information– It’s important to remember that the people shopping on these sites technically aren’t *your* customers. They belong to the marketplace that you’re selling on. This means you won’t have access to their contact information and your ability to communicate and build relationships with shoppers will be very limited.

ProsIt’s easy to start selling– Getting the ball rolling on social commerce is often just a matter of integrating your social account with a third party solution.

For instance, on Instagram, some merchants are setting up shop with the help of companies like Soldsie, a solution that lets retailers sell through comments. Meanwhile, other merchants (such as Nordstrom) are creating shoppable galleries from Instagram using solutions such as Like2Buy.

You can access buyer information– Most social selling tools enable you to access your customers’ contact details, so you can continue to keep in touch with shoppers.

ConsThe social shopping experience can be cumbersome– This particular disadvantage applies mostly to Instagram. There currently isn’t a way for customers complete transactions right from Instagram itself, which means shoppers have to leave the app in order to make a purchase. This adds friction to the shopping experience and can lead to lost sales.

You have limited branding and customization capabilities– Just like with online marketplaces, social networks offer very limited tools for customization.

Think about your goals and purposes for selling online. Do you simply want to sell more merchandise or do you want to build relationships with customers? Do you have time to build and maintain a full-fledged e-commerce site or would you rather hand over the reigns to a third party? These are just some of the questions you should ask when making your decision.

Also, do research on your customers. Do they shop at online marketplaces? Are they following you on social media? Strike up a conversation in-store or chat them up at the checkout counter and see if you can get insights into their online shopping habits.

There’s no rule against selling on multiple digital channels, so if you have the time and resources, why not try two or even three of the options above? Doing so will not only allow you to test each platform, but it can enable you to get in front of more people and potentially make more sales.

An easy way to start selling on multiple channels is to use a tool like Ecwid. Instead of having to re-create your product lists, you can simply embed your Ecwid store into your chosen sales channels (i.e. brick-and-mortar with POS systems like Clover, Square, and Vend, on marketplaces like eBay and Amazon, or on Facebook).

From there, Ecwid syncs product and order information from multiple channels in real-time, so you won’t have to worry about going back and forth between different websites and tools. This is great news because in addition to saving time in store management, running multiple shops from one platform helps keep your storefronts consistent across channels. This improves the customer experience, and let’s face it–it helps keep you sane.

Check out what Aeropostale is doing. In addition to its brick-and-mortar and e-commerce stores, the apparel retailer also has a strong presence on online marketplaces and social media. Not only does Aero sell on Amazon, but it also uses Like2Buy to gain sales from Instagram.

One thing to keep in mind when designing your digital shop is consistency. You want your customers to have a similar experience whether they’re browsing products in your brick-and-mortar shop or your online store.

So have a look around your existing locations and pay attention to any themes or design elements that you can bring online. Admittedly, implementing certain elements would be a little harder in marketplaces and social networks, but there are still steps you can take to incorporate your brand into these selling channels. (More on this below.)

E-commerce solutions usually give you a couple of options to customize the look and feel of your site. You can either use a ready-made theme or create your own design.

The former is obviously easier because all you need to do is browse available templates and select something that embodies your brand. E-commerce solutions often have their own theme marketplaces, though some platforms allow third parties to sell themes on external websites.

Prefer to design your site from scratch? That’s all well and good, as long as you find the right balance between showing off your brand’s personality and sticking to design best practices. While you should certainly find ways to be unique and memorable, don’t try to reinvent the wheel.

Remember, people are accustomed to browsing websites a certain way, so if you do something crazy like using a weird font or placing the navigation bar on the right instead of left-hand part of the page (where users are more used to seeing it) you’ll end up confusing people and driving them away.

The best thing to do is create basic layout–or skeleton–for your website. Use something that’s tried, tested, and easy to understand. Once you have that, you can work on filling it with elements that showcase your brand’s unique voice and personality.

They may not be as extensive as e-commerce platforms, but online marketplaces do give sellers a bit of freedom for customization. Design and personalization tools will vary, from one marketplace to the next.

Amazon, for instance, has Amazon Pages, which lets merchants (who are selling their own branded products) create rich seller pages that showcase their story and merchandise.

Meanwhile, sellers on eBay can sign up for eBay Stores, an e-commerce solution that gives merchants access to advanced marketing tools and customization features. Sellers using eBay Stores can create branded profiles where they can add a billboard image, profile picture, larger photos, and more.

Take the time to explore their tools and use them to your advantage. Upload your logo, display an attractive billboard image, feature the right products, and write an engaging company description. In doing so, you’ll instantly set yourself apart from the majority of sellers who don’t have the commitment to make their profiles the best that they can be.

Social networks have very limited (if any) tools for sellers to customize their stores. If you’re selling via social, it’s best to talk to your social commerce solution provider to discuss how you can personalize your store.

The main challenge here is making people feel at ease about buying your products online. Unlike in a brick-and-mortar store, where shoppers can touch and feel merchandise, online customers rely on product photos, descriptions, and reviews to determine if they should buy an item.

Here are a few considerations to help you produce killer product photos:Angles / Number of photos – Be sure to showcase various angles of each item. Let customers see what a product looks like from the side, from behind, and from the bottom. Also, include close-up or detail shots if necessary.

Remember, people won’t be able to examine your merchandise in person, so having product images showing a variety of angles can help bridge that “touch-feel” gap that people feel when shopping online.

Zappos does an excellent job at this. The e-tailer makes it a point to photograph merchandise in multiple angles so customers can really see what each item looks like from different perspectives.

Context– Is it better use a plain white backdrop or showcase your products in richer environments? Should you hire someone to model your merchandise? The answers to these questions depend on what you’re selling, where you’re selling them, and who you’re selling to.

Images with plain white backgrounds, for instance, may work better in e-commerce sites or marketplaces but wouldn’t fare as well when you’re selling via social. Certain products look better when someone’s modeling them, but others would be fine as is.

Equipment– Each store is different so there aren’t any hard and fast rules when it comes to the specific equipment you should invest in. But here are some general guidelines:

Lighting– If you can make your products look great in natural light, then you may not need to buy special equipment. Otherwise, you can go the DIY route and use poster boards to manipulate lighting.

Format– The best format for titles is brand-model-product type. So if you’re selling a pair of Asphalt boots from Chuck Taylor, your product title should be written as follows: Chuck Taylor All Star Asphalt Boot.

Consider the following when writing product descriptions.Length / Format– Like most things, the ideal length and format for product descriptions will vary from one e-tailer to the next. The key is to adequately describe an item without rambling on and on about it.

For best results, use bullet points to list product attributes, and be sure to talk about details that aren’t evident in photos. If your product descriptions are quite lengthy, cut them into smaller paragraphs (about 4-6 lines max). Avoid “walls of text” as this can intimidate online users.

Check out this great example by Nasty Gal. In addition to talking about details that aren’t obvious in the photos (ex. “super soft white terry cloth”), important product details are listed as bullet points for easy viewing.

Voice / Tone — Again, this will depend on your products or customers. The best thing to do is to stick to what makes sense for your your brand and adopt a voice that resonates with your target audience.

Keywords — Include words that your customers would actually use or search for. For example, if you’re selling a yellow sweater, it’s best to just stick with word “yellow” rather than using the word “canary”.

Social proof (ratings, reviews, customer photos) can do wonders for your conversion, so aim to incorporate these elements into your product pages.Reviews– Research has shown that “nearly all (94%) shoppers consult reviews during their browsing and buying journey, and 86% believe reviews are an essential part of the decision-making process.”

Try to get reviews on your product pages by prompting customers to rate and review your products. Touch base with them after they’ve made a purchase and invite them to leave a review or even post photos.

If you’re an Ecwid user, you can take those reviews and easily insert them in your product descriptions. Just use the built-in Quote tool, and you’ll be good to go.

Comments– If you’re selling on social networks like Facebook or Instagram, you may not be able to set up a good review system. However, you can encourage people to leave comments on your page or posts. Talk to your best customers and see if they’d like to share their positive brand or product experiences with the community.

Photos– Encourage customers to post photos of them using your product. If they’re on Instagram, assign a special hashtag for such images, so you can find and then publish them on your site.

Apparel retailer BlackMilk does this really well. BlackMilk assigns product-specific hashtags that customers can include in their Instagram posts, and the e-tailer takes those photos and showcases them on their product pages.

Having both a brick-and-mortar and online store is good, but making those channels work together is even better. Modern customers love it when retailers allow them to shop across multiple channels, so linking your physical and digital stores will result in better shopping experiences and happier customers.

As its name clearly states, a “buy online, pickup in-store” program gives shoppers the ability to make purchases on your e-commerce site, then swing by your physical store to pick them up instead of paying (and waiting) for shipping.

It’s a convenient service that helps shoppers save time and money. What’s more, these initiatives can also increase sales for retailers. Research has found that 45% of shoppers who opt for in-store pickup end up buying additional items during the trip.

Endless aisles let shoppers browse a retailer’s full inventory so they can view items that aren’t available in a particular location. Customers can use kiosks or tablets to check out what’s in stock online or in other locations, and they can place orders on the spot.

One company that does this well is Nike. The retailer has large touch-screen displays in some of its locations to let customers browse products that aren’t available in that store.

Now, you don’t have to install fancy kiosks or touch-screens to implement endless aisles. You can offer the service by arming your store associates with devices (such as tablets), which would let them access your full inventory. The staff can then assist your customers when they need to find products that aren’t in stock at your physical locations, and they can even place orders for them.

Tip: Are you an Ecwid user? You’ll be happy to know that Ecwid implements responsive design so it works perfectly on any device or screen–including laptops, tablets, smartphones, and smartwatches. Be sure to have Ecwid in your in-store devices, and have your associates use them to assist customers.

The key to successfully carrying out programs like endless aisles and in-store pickup is to have a single-view inventory system. To accomplish this, you need to sync your inventory across different channels so you’ll have an accurate and real-time view of what’s available in-store and online.

If you’re using Ecwid, syncing your brick-and-mortar and online inventories is easily achievable. Ecwid connects with programs such as Vend and Square (works in US, Canada, Australia, UK, Japan), and can sync stock and order information across your online and offline stores. This gives you a single-view system, so you won’t have to go back and forth between programs when checking what you have in stock.

To learn more about the ways of connecting your brick and mortar and online stores read our article about our payment integration with PayPal Here. It is the opposite thing when you want to move online to brick and mortar. It helps you to bring your online store to the real world.

Congrats! You’ve successfully moved your brick-and-mortar store online. The next step is to make sure your store performs well. To do this, you need to keep an eye on metrics such as your sales and conversion rate. These numbers can help you gauge the performance of your store, so you can react accordingly.

The metrics available to you depends on the selling channel that you’re on. If you have an e-commerce site and are running Google Analytics, then you’ll have access to a host of numbers that paint a clear picture of how your store is doing. If you’re selling through social or online marketplaces though, then your metrics will be limited to what they allow you to see.

Sales– Tracking sales is a no-brainer, as it enables you to measure a host of things including ROI, store performance, marketing efforts, and more. Additionally, segmenting your sales according to certain parameters (i.e. sales per channel, location, demographics, etc.) lets you see where revenue is coming from.

For example, if you look at sales coming from brick-and-mortar versus online, then you’ll know which channel is generating the most revenue. You can then use that insight to make smarter decisions about your selling channels.

Conversion rate– This is the percentage of shoppers who made a purchase, versus the total number of visitors. You can find this by dividing the number of successful transactions by gross traffic, then multiplying that number by 100.

Where visitors are coming from– Tracking the number of visitors coming in from different channels or locations will help improve your marketing and advertising efforts. For instance, if you find that most of your visitors are coming in from organic search, then you know that your SEO efforts are working.

On the other hand, looking at the geographic location of your customers can provide valuable insights into how you should communicate and present information. Let’s say you’re getting a lot of customers from the UK. You can use that information to make your site more UK-friendly, by say, giving people the option to view prices in British Pounds.

Best (and worst) sellers– Tracking your most and least popular products will allow you to make better inventory decisions. These numbers will tell you what you need to stock up on and what you need to sell more of to avoid having too much capital tied up in inventory.

Cart abandonment — Be sure to look at the number of people who are adding products to their shopping carts but aren’t completing the purchase. It’s also important to identify the specific “abandonment point” in the checkout process

For instance, did the shopper leave after seeing shipping costs? Did they abandon their cart when asked to enter their credit card information? The answers to these questions can give you some insights to help you improve the checkout experience.

Setting up shop online may take a bit of work, but when implemented correctly, the rewards (increased sales and customer satisfaction) are well-worth it. If you haven’t done so yet, start exploring ways in which you can move your brick-and-mortar store online. Do your research on the selling channels we mentioned above, weigh your options, and start selling.

March 2 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it plans to close all 68 of its brick-and-mortar bookstores, pop-ups and shops carrying toys and home goods in the United States and United Kingdom, ending some of its longest-running retail experiments.

The news, which Reuters was first to report, marks a turning point for a company that began as an online bookseller and helped drive established rivals such as Borders to bankruptcy. Amazon said it would focus more on its grocery markets and a department store concept going forward.

After opening its first book shop in Seattle in 2015, Amazon has tried out an array of ideas in retail: convenience stores without cashiers, supermarkets, and a format called "4-star" in which it sells toys, household items and other goods with high customer ratings.

Amazon had aimed to reach shoppers in more places and bring its online touch into the real world. Its bookstores would pull from its vast data trove and showcase what people were reading, even the reviews they left on Amazon"s website.

But the company"s innovations were not enough to counter the march toward online shopping that Amazon itself had set off. Its "physical stores" revenue - a mere 3% of Amazon"s $137 billion in sales last quarter, largely reflective of consumer spending at its Whole Foods subsidiary - has often failed to keep pace with growth in the retailer"s other businesses.

Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said internet-savvy Amazon was right to forgo the niche market of brick-and-mortar book shoppers, as bad a match as electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) opening gas stations.

Pachter said Andy Jassy, Amazon"s new chief executive, likely made this call as he reviewed the retailer"s myriad businesses since taking the top job in July. "Retail is hard, and they"re discovering that," he said.

The company"s vice president of physical retail, Cameron Janes, departed Amazon after 14 years in November, he said in a LinkedIn post. Now chief commercial officer at retailer REI, he did not immediately return a request for comment.

Amazon will close its 4-star, pop-up and bookstore locations on various dates and notify customers via signage. Workers will receive severance or can receive help finding jobs at any company stores nearby, such as more than a dozen Amazon Fresh grocery locations it has announced, the retailer said.

These examples of technology in retail stores enable the customization of products, such as custom-made clothing based on an augmented reality fitting. With the optimal hardware, interactive applications, and network bandwidth, retailers have the power to offer customers immersive AR experiences.

Immersive experiences can offer both practical and marketing benefits. They can give customers an incentive to visit physical stores over digital retail, which is a great way to attract new customers to brick-and-mortar businesses. In addition to offering VR/AR goggles, some retail stores are installing

Retailers can thrill customers with the creative use of location-based services, 3D printing, interactive hangers and changing rooms, beacon-based technologies and more. Grocery stores and drugstores are also installing location-aware shopping carts with built-in touch screens that can answer visitors" questions and direct them to the products they"re looking for. Near-field communication (NFC)-enabled carts let customers self-checkout without waiting. And these are just a few examples of ways to digitally power the physical shopping experience with technology in retail stores.

One year after its acquisition by Levi Strauss & Co., Beyond Yoga has opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Los Angeles, where the retailer’s story began in 2005. In developing a strategy for its physical location, Beyond Yoga focused on allowing its popular textiles to shine through via educational signage, thoughtful product displays, comfortable spaces and artistic installations.

Beyond Yoga chose a permanent space in the oceanside neighborhood of Santa Monica, Calif., at a Third Street Promenade location formerly occupied by a Levi’s store. “Santa Monica is an L.A. landmark in retail,” said Kori Whitaker, Head of Stores at Beyond Yoga in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “I want to surprise and delight customers by being able to represent everything the brand has to offer, and Santa Monica will allow us to do that. It allows us to offer that neighborhood community feeling where it means a lot to us, because this is where we started.”

The company took notes for the 4,000-square-foot store during a monthlong pop-up experience that it hosted at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles beginning in June 2022, and Beyond Yoga will continue to spread its mission of comfort, camaraderie and women’s empowerment as a female-founded brand when it opens its second physical store this holiday season at Los Angeles’ Irvine Spectrum Center.

“The first [store] is always the hardest, because you go from a digital brand — and people have an idea of what the brand is — but then you actually go in and you experience it,” said Ashley Hart, VP of Marketing at Beyond Yoga in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “We’re based in Southern California, so that bright and airy optimism is what we want people to feel. We want people to feel welcome and feel like they’re going to somebody else’s house and meeting up with friends.”

The materials and the layout go far toward creating that happy, welcoming atmosphere. Design elements that afford ease and encourage a relaxed journey include:

“We intentionally put spaces and chairs around the fitting room so people can have conversations versus just being there to try on,” said Hart. “We sanded down the flooring to a birch. The wall coloring is a marshmallow white. so it’s not a pure white where it feels sterile — it has a warmth to it. There is a powder coating on the bars, and while the bar is hard, the gold makes it softer. We were looking at all of these parallels between strength and softness.”

Upon entering, customers can see a large back wall that features an illuminated floor-to-ceiling sign in bright yellow. It bears the Beyond Yoga name and the words “You are Powerful. Real. Soft. Strong. Confident. Unique” — the characteristics the brand hopes to relay to its customers. Campaign imagery throughout the space is displayed with meaningful messaging such as “Made for everybody,” and “Be moved. Be you. Beyond.”

Additional signage clarifies the brand’s mission of comfort and equity in activewear. On the left-hand side, the store features a wall-mounted display titled “What We’re Made Of” that features samples of the brand’s Featherweight, Heather Rib, Cozy Fleece and Spacedye fabrications.

The display encourages guests to feel the samples while the messaging relays Beyond Yoga’s environmental commitments, such as Los Angeles-based manufacturing, responsible sourcing, waterless printing and a less wasteful production process. The store’s righthand side features another wall-mounted sign that emphasizes the commitment to inclusivity, including sizing that ranges from XXS-4X, unretouched campaign imagery and Beyond Yoga’s roots as a female-founded and led brand.

With 89% of its employees identifying as female, Beyond Yoga strives to elevate women’s voices, including through featuring product and producing events with partner brands that are founded or led by women, such as Sundaysand

Beyond Yoga also worked with Levi’s to create an experience that was as beautiful as it was retail-driven. Beyond Yoga chose Chris Wrobleski, a Los Angeles-based artist whose work has been commissioned by Levi’s in the past. The result was an artistic installation located in the back of the store comprising the brand’s popular Spacedye fabric, which hangs down from an arched ceiling to create a canopy. The installation stretches from a cozy seating area that connects the retail floor with the fitting room area onto a wall within the entrance to the try-on area.

“The arched ceiling was very important to me to execute because I felt like it was the aspect that would bring that ‘wow’ factor to the store, and help set the design apart from other stores,” said Wrobleski in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “Thetwo walls are very large and fun to touch, but the 10’ x 12’floating arched ceiling really helps take the space to the next level.”

Noting that employees and visitors can lean against the walls, Wrobleski likens the sensation of touching the Spacedye fringe to the feeling of receiving a hug.

“The space is calming and inviting, both in color palette and materials, and speaks to the softness that Beyond Yoga is known for,” said Wrobleski. “The arch and the walls are made from the same material as the clothes — super soft, and enjoyable to touch. I wanted the walls to be extra dense fringe, comfortable enough for a nap. Even while installing the piece, employees and other people working on the store couldn’t keep their hands off of it.”

Despite the temptations to catch 40 winks, the space also is equipped with technology for customers and associates to work together efficiently. For example, the Shopify-powered space includes technology for customers to book appointments online prior to visiting the store. Customers can work with associates to find the products they want and explore exclusives that are only available through the Beyond Yoga store or the brand’s ecommerce channel.

“The customer can go online, book an appointment and the salesperson is prepping the room, then the customer has the undivided attention from the salesperson,” said Hart. “It’s great because you can see all the customer history, so if they buy black all the time or navy, if they’re a brights person or a jumpsuits person, you can start to pull what they purchased [in the past]. Associates can look at customers’ preferred sizing or if they want to try a few different sizes; they didn’t have that option before because it was a digital brand.”

Checkout was also simplified; while a cash wrap is located in the back of the store, customers are able to complete their purchases from any area of the store via mobile devices.

“Thinking about the point of sale, it was also really important that you didn’t have to go to certain places to stand in line for checkout,” said Hart. “They can check out in the fitting rooms, they can check out at the front of the store, they can check out sitting down on the round table. We wanted to enable the sales team to be able to have a conversation and not have to walk away.”

Over the last two decades, the shopping experience has changed dramatically. With the majority of retailers now having an online presence, including large brands and independent boutiques, buying products over the internet has never been easier.

Figures by Statista put global e-commerce sales in 2018 at $2.84 trillion. By 2021, this is predicted to rise to $4,88 trillion. The top 3 countries with the highest e-commerce sales in 2018 were UK, China and Norway.

With these figures, you’d think that in-store shopping is dead. Well, the numbers show it isn’t. In 2018 global retail sales totaled $24.86 trillion. This is expected to increase to $27.73 trillion in 2020. This shows that it’s still possible to make big sales through having a brick and mortar presence, and here are some reasons why:

A brick and mortar store is a physical shop, a location where products and services are sold. Brick and mortar stores are traditional street-side businesses that provide services and products for their customers.

While the term brick and mortar is mainly used to describe local stores, grocery shops, and retail chains, brick and mortar can be used for any type of business that sells products in a physical location. For instance, banks and libraries are also considered brick and mortar locations.

Click and mortar is another buzz-worthy term we should discuss before moving forward. Brick and click describes a business that has an omnichannel retailstrategy in place. This means that customers can place an order online, pay for it and have it delivered at their front steps. Also, they can order on the website and come to collect the products inside the store. Unlike an eCommerce platform, brick and click stores also have a physical location where shoppers can see and purchase products.

There are a few things that differentiate brick and mortar stores from eCommerce platforms. As we’ve mentioned previously, there are also brick and mortar stores that sell their products online (brick and click), but eCommerce platforms don’t have a physical location where customers can see the products.

Traditional brick and mortar stores only sell products in physical locations and that is people can only shop during working hours. On eCommerce platforms, customers can shop at any time of the day (or night), but they will have to wait for their products to be delivered. Also, customers can’t see, smell, touch, or compare products on eCommerce sites.

Customers still prefer to shop in brick and mortar stores because they can enjoy the complete shopping experience. Most shoppers do their research online, but end up shopping in a physical location because they want to see the products for themselves and take them home to enjoy as soon as possible.

Being able to see and touch products is a prime motivating factor for people shopping in- store. The ability to pick up an item makes it easier to determine its quality and suitability, whilst comparisons to similar items can be made quickly. The shopper’s in-store experience can be superior to shopping online, a fact which attracts those who want to see a product before buying.

While online shopping can be done anywhere at any time, you still have to wait for the item to be delivered. The huge plus of shopping in-store is that you can take the item away with you immediately. So, the shopper’s experience is more pleasant as he or she doesn’t have to sit around the house and wait all day for the delivery van to arrive.

The ease of returning unsuitable items is another reason why people prefer to shop in- store. Instead of having to parcel the item back up, post it back and wait several weeks for the refund to be triggered, unwanted items can be refunded or swapped easily and quickly in-store.

While some love the ease of shopping online, many prefer the social aspect of in-store shopping. Scientists have found that the act of in-store shopping actually releases a chemical called Dopamine, which is responsible for pleasure. Plus, in-store shopping can be incorporated with other activities, like meeting a friend for coffee or stopping for a spot of lunch at a favorite café. Not to mention that it’s the perfect opportunity to give yourself a personal moment: a moment of peace away from work or family. Almost like going on a mini trip!

Even though there is a vast amount of information online, finding the right information can be a hassle. Instead of trailing through numerous web-pages to find the answer you need, the same information can be obtained easily by asking an in-store customer service assistant.

While you cannot ignore online shopping, and in many cases, you need to make sure you have an online store, there are certain aspects of in-store shopping that will never be replaced in the virtual world. Humans crave personal interaction, and having our biological senses triggered (in a good way) can create experiences that stick with us for longer than a smoothly executed website. Retail technology will surely impact the sector greatly, and will keep customers going through your door.