I used to say that, but if it's the same running shoes you always buy or something like Birks when your size is your size, it works.
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What bricks and mortar retail will always remain bricks and mortar?
- Thread starter Fritter
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JasonParis
Moderator
Hume is back from retirement already?
Skeezix
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Only to complain.
Torontovibe
Senior Member
But a very valid complaint!
Skeezix
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Maybe. I would have thought so. But there is apparently some evidence which suggests otherwise (I post this without having reviewed the study - just pointing out that it exists):
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AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Totally right - though people are discovering that you don't necessarily need shopping as a component of social activity and separate the two.
He discovered Twitter.
AoD
Johnny Au
Senior Member
Good thing Hume didn't discover Reddit yet.
JasonParis
Moderator
When I took a took a Learning to Look at Architecture course with Hume in the early 2000s, he told our class with pride that he didn't use email unless "he absolutely had to."
Tuscani01
Senior Member
But the stuff Amazon sells isn't where Canadian Tire is making money. Owned Brands are a big part of Canadian Tire's strategy to compete with the likes of Amazon. You won't find CT's owned brands anywhere else but CT. CT has been eliminating national brands in favour of boosting private label quality and competitiveness. (See paint strategy that recently launched where all National Brands have been replaced by Premier) CT is also in brand acquisition mode, snapping up brands so that it can control the market. (See Woods, Outbound)
It's why CT continues to see increasing sales despite the rise in online shopping and competition.
The idea that online shopping and Amazon is a threat in Canada is also overblown. Consumer studies focused on Canada show a completely different path for online retail than those in the US. Our consumer preferences tend to mirror European preferences more than our close neighbours. Home delivery just isn't as big of a threat here. The preference is still largely picking up items in store - hence why many retailers have decided to focus on in-store pickup vs. home delivery (click and collect model).
I think the idea that was mentioned above, about shopping being a social experience, is what differentiates us and Europe from the US market. We value service and human/social contact. We're just a bit more classier when it comes to being consumers.
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I'm not sure about that comparison to Europe. I'd say shopping in Europe is a far more social experience than it is here. So much in Europe is a far more social experience, even hanging out on the town square for a coffee.
stanko
Active Member
I'm actually reading a book right now on this topic: Reengineering Retail by Doug Stephens. I don't particularly like it because in the first handful of chapters the author explores some visionary futuristic bullshit such as holograms, virtual reality and this haptographic device that can replicate the feeling of real life objects, and these things supposedly putting an end to the argument against shopping online and that as is the need to touch, feel and try before you buy. Then there's Amazon that has this technology that will buy things like laundry detergent, soap, etc. for you once it runs out (totally ignoring the ethical and practical concerns behind that technology...)
The book later on gets into the idea of turning brick and mortar retail into a type of media rather than just being places that have products stacked on shelves. We will go to stores to experience things, and that I can resonate with
The book later on gets into the idea of turning brick and mortar retail into a type of media rather than just being places that have products stacked on shelves. We will go to stores to experience things, and that I can resonate with