My niece announced her pregnancy this week by posting a scan
of her growing baby on Facebook. The response was “Congratulations!” and “Wow!”.
There was a touch of “Wow” about the way the announcement was made but really
it made a lot of sense with most of her friends and family communicating on
social media.
If you analyse the process she was simply using some new
technology to make her communication more effective. The analogy with retailing
is irresistible. Customers are doing their shopping online and in store. My
niece didn’t put all her eggs in one basket by just posting online. She also
rang her close friends and used traditional communication as well as new
technology. In a sense shoppers are doing the same. Arguments that online and
in-store shopping are mutually exclusive just don’t make sense. They are both
part of the same process and shoppers will move between the two depending on
the nature of their purchase and the circumstances they find themselves in.
There is a strong argument that face to face retailing like
we offer at QVM will stay attractive to customers. There is an equally strong
argument that online provides the convenience that shoppers find very
desirable, at least at times. Traders must be ready to offer both options if
they hope to survive 2014.