In what ways are technological advancements in the online marketplace effecting the usage and importance of physical brick & mortar stores?
The high street throughout history has been the key to many thriving and successful towns. It’s the small local stores which sell products and services which have been the back bone to many communities in providing occupations as well as places of cultural and social value (Great British High Street, 2013). However with the rise of the internet within the 21st century, many of these services and occupations have either been replaced with websites or no longer exist as they did within the centuries before. Consumers are now taking advantage of the choice they have on the new online marketplace, this change …show more content…
This has had a negative impact on retail sales to the point that independent shops are struggling to compete against online alternatives resulting in a net loss of over 140 independent shops (Telegraph, 2015). Whilst smaller businesses have suffered it appears that the physical stores of bigger firms have been able to remain operating, this has been due to the fact that larger companies have been able to invest in online commerce technology and created apps and websites to go along with their retail experience. The brick and mortar store is now used as part of a brands Omni-channel retail strategy, the store has become a showroom to heighten the consumers retail experience. It’s in this way that the online marketplace has grown to complement not compete with the traditional retail model. This has come with its own negative consequences with the percentage of total footfall for highstreets and shopping centres “failing to 4.0% and 2.0% respectively” (Spring-Board, 2016). Consumers have become more conscious of their shopping habits and shopped at home as their lacks an economic incentive of shopping in store. The decline in retail stores therefore isn’t the precursor to the death of physical stores, as the headlines lead us to believe; but a …show more content…
The research objectives are:
1. To establish the differing ways in which technology is being used as a means of retail consumption, over a 50 year period.
2. To examine the changing importance and usage of physical stores as technology has evolved over a 50 year period.
3. To evaluate the data acquired throughout the research and then ascertain conclusions from this data.
Methodology
This proposal will pinpoint and evaluate two differing research designs, each contributing contrasting methods and approaches to accumulating and observing data. Design 1 and 2’s research philosophies and principles will be inspected and the design which offers the most appropriate ideals will be used for the research proposal.
Design
The high street throughout history has been the key to many thriving and successful towns. It’s the small local stores which sell products and services which have been the back bone to many communities in providing occupations as well as places of cultural and social value (Great British High Street, 2013). However with the rise of the internet within the 21st century, many of these services and occupations have either been replaced with websites or no longer exist as they did within the centuries before. Consumers are now taking advantage of the choice they have on the new online marketplace, this change …show more content…
This has had a negative impact on retail sales to the point that independent shops are struggling to compete against online alternatives resulting in a net loss of over 140 independent shops (Telegraph, 2015). Whilst smaller businesses have suffered it appears that the physical stores of bigger firms have been able to remain operating, this has been due to the fact that larger companies have been able to invest in online commerce technology and created apps and websites to go along with their retail experience. The brick and mortar store is now used as part of a brands Omni-channel retail strategy, the store has become a showroom to heighten the consumers retail experience. It’s in this way that the online marketplace has grown to complement not compete with the traditional retail model. This has come with its own negative consequences with the percentage of total footfall for highstreets and shopping centres “failing to 4.0% and 2.0% respectively” (Spring-Board, 2016). Consumers have become more conscious of their shopping habits and shopped at home as their lacks an economic incentive of shopping in store. The decline in retail stores therefore isn’t the precursor to the death of physical stores, as the headlines lead us to believe; but a …show more content…
The research objectives are:
1. To establish the differing ways in which technology is being used as a means of retail consumption, over a 50 year period.
2. To examine the changing importance and usage of physical stores as technology has evolved over a 50 year period.
3. To evaluate the data acquired throughout the research and then ascertain conclusions from this data.
Methodology
This proposal will pinpoint and evaluate two differing research designs, each contributing contrasting methods and approaches to accumulating and observing data. Design 1 and 2’s research philosophies and principles will be inspected and the design which offers the most appropriate ideals will be used for the research proposal.
Design