Internet changed everything, including customers' purchasing attitudes. Brick and mortar stores ceased to be the main place-to-go for shoppers who choose online stores instead. In the near future, buying on the Internet is expected to soar to roughly 50- 60 percent of the non- daily shopping. Stationary shops must find new ways to woo consumers.

New generation and business shops were quick to react to threats posed by e-commerce. Shopping malls were revamped to attract more customers by providing recreational activities, an experience for visitors, restaurants and bars, as well as free parking facilities. Longer opening hours was the response to the customers’ wish to be able to shop in the evenings and over the weekends. However, this led to shopping expenditure being spread out over the available hours rather than leading to more purchases.

From recreational events to price promotions, from loyalty programs to free home deliveries, brick-and-mortar stores compete against each other when it comes to product promotions. But can they compete with Internet? Traditional retail outlets must analyze customers' future shopping patterns in detail and come up with long-term strategies to win these shoppers back.

China: brick-and-mortar shops swallowed up by e-stores

To prove that online shopping really took off in China, it is enough to do some simple math. It took China's biggest retail chain Suning all last year to generate sales of about $17bn, while e-commerce giant Alibaba saw sales worth more than half that amount pass through its Tmall website in just one day. Big retailers like Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd and foreign competitors such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Best Buy Co Inc find it hard to entice customers to their brick-and-mortar stores in China. Online stores seem unbeatable. Other companies have also complained that operating in China has recently become much more difficult due to the boom of online shopping in the country. Consequently, both French hypermarket operator Carrefour SA and US giant Walmart reported weak China sales.

Rapidly changing shopping habits of Chinese consumers threaten the future of retail chains. An average Chinese shopper will opt for convenience, and often lower prices, offered by online shopping. As regards food, many people would rather go to local grocers than big supermarkets. Showrooming, or visiting a physical store to check out an item and then buying it online, is also quite common. All of this is bad news to brick-and-mortar stores.

Reverse showrooming to reverse the trend?

According to BI Intelligence's report, traditional retailers should not lose hope. The report emphasizes the importance of "reverse showrooming," dubbed "webrooming," in a war against e-commerce. Consumers who go online to research products, but then head to a bricks-and-mortar store to complete their purchase, may save stationary shops.

Of course, reverse showrooming is hardly a novelty. Since the early days of online shopping, more people have researched their shopping online than have actually bought there.

So what has changed? Retailers finally started to recognize the reverse showrooming trend as an opportunity, and they are now working to actively capture those sales. Once perceived as a threat to traditional retailers, showrooming is actually less popular than webrooming. In the U.S., 69 percent of people reverse showroom, while 46 percent showroom, according to a Harris poll. Offline retailers have realized they have a lot to offer, as long as they can integrate offline and digital, and beat e-commerce competitors on convenience. They are using tactics like knowledgeable sales staff, in-store pick-up of online orders, in-store Wi-Fi, and smartphone discounts that attract showroomers to brick-and-mortar stores.

Connected in-store experience is the key to success. Consequently, the number of smart solutions in stationary stores is growing rapidly. Offline retailers use tablets and mobile phones as register systems, robotic arms that deliver clothing into dressing rooms, and beacon hardware, which powers in-store maps and automatic hands-free payments.

Sources: http://www.happiestminds.com; http://www.reuters.com; http://www.businessinsider.com, Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/leondel/