Brick-and-mortar furniture retail still has room to thrive, even in a world where 55 percent of U.S. households have Amazon Prime accounts, a study by IHL Group suggests. According to the study, 75 percent of retail business will still be driven by physical stores in 2022. But to stay relevant furniture retailers will need to adopt technology of their own to fight back against Amazon and stay relevant in this rapidly evolving world.
IHL Group suggests retailers should keep in mind the top reasons shoppers still visit physical stores over e-Commerce sites:
- 23% of shoppers want their purchase now.
- 20% want to touch and feel the product or need your staff’s expertise.
- 14% don’t want to pay a delivery fee.
- 12 % want to support local businesses.
- 11% want to shop your store out of convenience.
Most of these desires can be met through a buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) program, according to Greg Buzek, Founder and President of IHL Services. This kind of service gives shoppers a reason to come in store, and can provide incentives that Amazon’s limited physical presence can’t match.
“People shop at stores because they need it now, or they need more experience: to touch and feel and try it on,” said Buzek. “If you can take that ‘need it now’ and add to it the fact that you can beat Amazon at their own delivery game with the BOPIS because you’re local, it can be very powerful.”
