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Bridging the Brick and Mortar Gap
April 10, 2007 - Matt MacGillivray - comments (2)
While Google is trying to bridge the gap between brick and mortar retailing and ecommerce, this isn't really a new concept in retailing. Catalog shopping has been a part of our lives for a long time - I can't remember a time when my home was without a Sears Catalog. However, Sears was a huge department store that offered a full line of products in store and via their catalog, not really an optimized showroom for products.
While we still have traditional catalog companies, we see new companies trying to optimize the catalog model by hosting small product showrooms with limited quantities of each and every product. In Canada, Lee Valley Tools has managed to do well with this model. Their stores are small, but big enough to carry one of almost everything for the consumer to try out. When you purchase, it follows the catalog model where an employee takes your order and it's either pulled from the warehouse in the back, or mailed to you. I have heard they have taken it a step further by introducing product ordering stations in their downtown Toronto location - allowing the store to handle even more orders per square foot. There is a company that is taking this model one step further - Nau.com. They see the opportunity in brick and mortar for an apparel company, while also understanding the advantage of online shopping. As a result of some keen business sense, they have setup small stores that carry limited quantities of all products but encourage customers to order online - so the stores act as true product showrooms. In the clothing business, seeing and feeling the product is a critical part of the first purchase. Once the consumer understands the sizing, the texture and fit of the products, most barriers to online shopping have been broken. NAU also makes headway in a few other areas, including sustainability and social causes, but their overall approach at blending the online and brick and mortar retail experience is pretty impressive. See video of their Boulder location and decide for yourself. |
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Matt, glad to see you are stepping up your blogging efforts here too. For an infrastructure company such as Google to be able to profit from traffic to brick & mortar stores, they must create a business model that takes advantage of the overwhelming amount of information they have on consumers and leverage it when they are the closest to the store itself. I remember posting about a ficticious AdSidewalk as a potential implementation.
Posted by: juan | April 12, 2007 at 06:29 PM
I think there are two angles to Google's approach.
The first is to expand their traditional business model - 'drive traffic to businesses' - but employing a new and untested delivery mechanism. Opting for a kiosk makes sense - it's closest to their existing skill set.
The second angle might be to expand Google's depth of knowledge. By implementing solutions closer to the brick and mortar store, they are exposed to a more localized set of data. Lets face it, searching for businesses through google maps is mediocre at best. This strategy drives revenue, and would fill in gaps with their google maps service.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it's fun to imagine the possibilities.
Posted by: Matt MacGillivray | April 13, 2007 at 06:37 AM