E-Commerce vs. Brick and Mortar

     E-Commerce is an industry model that is booming right now with more and more people leaning towards it as their main shopping medium based on the convenience it offers. This model is becoming an increasing challenge to the typical brick and mortar model that has been used for countless years in this country as a means of purchasing all kinds of merchandise. A lot of people do not like dealing with other people so any chance to avoid salespeople is a win for a lot of consumers. However, this does not mean the brick and mortar companies are out of luck. Numerous people still enjoy going to the store to actually physically see the product they are thinking about buying. The expertise of the salespeople can help the less knowledgeable audience make a decision on a product. The problem nowadays is people will go to the store see what they want and walk out to buy it online. Price is usually a big factor when deciding, and online retailers have been offering up the cheapest prices for most items. The advantage brick and mortar stores need to take advantage of is the availability to have the item right away. Furthermore, the online store for most of these brick and mortars now offer a "pick up in store" option which allow the convenience of online with the instant gratification consumers look for.

     E-Commerce lacks in this area due to the shipping of items they have to deal with. People often don't like to wait for things so retailers like Amazon need to find out ways to encourage customers to stick with them over the competition. Amazon is in the works of developing new strategies to reduce the wait time using drone delivery and anticipatory shipping. Anticipatory shipping is when Amazon will ship new items to distribution facilities closest to people that are most likely to buy them based on past purchases. Shipping is an expensive task that online retailers have to deal with and finding an affordable solution has been difficult. 

     When brick and mortar companies get customers to come back to their stores, they are building stronger brand loyalty with the customers. If a customer really likes a particular store, he or she will be more likely to come back rather than find the product else where. Additionally, once the customer is in the store, they have a better chance of purchasing more than they originally intended to. Online retailers, on the other hand, do not get as many people to do the same. Overall, this battle between shopping mediums has yet to come to an end, and it will be interesting to see who ends up winning.