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We live in fast-paced times, especially for businesses. Technology is changing at high speed, and thus, companies need to catch up adopting innovations rapidly; otherwise, they might fail to survive the severe competition. The customers also impatiently expect instant satisfaction more than ever, and if not, they are capable of immediately sharing their feelings online with other billions of people. The shape of the retail industry is also shifting drastically, and it is most evident in the conflict between offline and online shopping. The benefits of traditional retail involve the physical experience of the product, personal service, and trust. Online shopping is about convenience, simple payment options, and a wide range of product alternatives available to the customer. Thus, foreseeing diverse market opportunities and trends is very crucial in a challenging economic climate.
With big e-commerce businesses like eBay, Amazon, and Alibaba growing in popularity, many are doubting the future of traditional retail. Surprisingly, some of these famous e-commerce giants have begun taking their first steps into the brick-and-mortar retail world a few years ago. The first offline bookstore, Amazon Books, launched in Seattle in 2015 and has since expanded across the globe into offline bookstores. Almost overnight, Amazon acquired Whole Foods in a $13.4 billion deal, which allowed it to own 460 stores in the US, Canada, and the UK (Abudheen, 2019). China’s largest e-commerce companies, such as Alibaba, JD, and Tencent, are also tightening the integration of offline and online resources. Fifteen percent of retail sales in China are online, and 85 percent are offline (Bu et al., 2019). In March 2015, Alibaba launched its first New Retail supermarket, which seeks to replicate the online shopping experience of a regular store. Three years later, the e-commerce giant has 25 Hema stores in seven cities in China that combine e-commerce, a restaurant, a supermarket, and a distribution centre. It allows shoppers to walk around the store and choose products using their smartphone, which later will be delivered home (Agency China, 2020). E-commerce giants are creating more offline presence throughout the world. It looks like they are trying to reach traditional shoppers by merging online and offline shopping. They are transforming the retail industry by embedding digital solutions in physical stores. The struggle between the e-commerce giants and the brick-and-mortar titans will only be severe. For this reason, the future might belong to the hybrid.
Nevertheless, the world is full of surprises. Natural disasters, international conflicts, market downturns, pandemics such as COVID-19 are mostly unexpected. In less than two years, the world has changed dramatically: hospital systems, vaccines, and face masks have become the backbone of our lives. The coronavirus pandemic has become a real threat to many businesses. It has brought countries to a complete halt, altered “normal” lifestyles, and drove the global economy into one of the worst downturns. The coronavirus has changed the nature of the business globally. According to the Ernest & Young study, 52% of consumers are concerned about their health and avoid shopping at crowded stores (Carlyle & Rindone, 2020). In the aftermath of the pandemic, some companies face a crisis while others seize opportunities to improve their market position and competitiveness. Many brick-and-mortar stores that have had to close completely now see e-commerce as an alternative sales channel. The crisis has increased the power and scale of e-commerce across countries, creating new business opportunities in consumer segments such as the elderly and grocery products (OECD, 2020). Many of these changes are likely to be long-term, given the potential for new epidemic waves. Systemic issues related to Internet connectivity, access to online banking, IT skills, and trust in e-vendors have become critical for consumers. Moreover, interest in digital security, privacy, and consumer protection has skyrocketed.