The Future of eCommerce - Is the Store Dead?

The final death of the traditional brick-and-mortar store as we know it has been predicted for some years. 

However, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the growth of e-commerce, it led to much talk that it wouldn’t be long before offline buying would be a thing of the past.

Coupled with the pace at which the internet and technology have been forced to develop, it seemed that online shopping was now the convenient and inevitable solution for shoppers to get their buying fix.

However, new patterns have begun to develop, suggesting we are entering a strange paradox when it comes to offline and online shopping. 

It suggests as fast as some brands are shutting their doors, others have found a way to emerge like a phoenix from the ashes. 

According to Signifyd, which offers security for online payments,  data shows pickup orders from brick-and-mortar stores are up 176% in the last 12 months compared to the previous 12 months.

It indicates shoppers are happy to use a hybrid of online and offline experiences with their retail purchases.

While starting their shopping online, many will go to a physical shop to view or try on their purchase, see other options, and then decide whether to keep it. 

Adrien Levinger is the CEO of FAV Solution, one of the US's leading development agencies in the eCommerce industry.

He says the future of retail is a perfect hybrid of an online and offline experience: "We will see these two aspects of shopping merging into a very seamless experience between online and in-store."

He adds: "Brands that can offer a true omnichannel experience to consumers will be able to push forward in-store as well as online and grow. Brands need to have the flexibility to survive. They have to exist on several different channels and diversify to offer multiple options to purchase.”

Levinger is an expert in the field of fashion eCommerce. He has enabled clients to grow their sales by optimizing conversion, increasing traffic, and improving customer experience.

His outstanding ability in the eCommerce field enabled The Webster, to become the top boutique in the US on Farfetch, the online high-fashion marketplace, to 10x their sales thanks to his unique processing system.

Levinger says that while there has been talk of an omnichannel strategy for some years now in retail, many brands have not embraced the process: "When you really look into it or when you actually shop, there are very few stores or companies that achieve an end to end omnichannel experience for consumers very well.”

He adds: "Typically when you buy something online, you return it to a store. But when you go into that store, you cannot buy what you want in a few clicks and get it sent to your house the following day."

Levinger's solution is to have devices in the store itself that enable consumers to have an augmented experience. It would introduce online techniques to an offline environment.

"Currently, you can encourage the customer to complete their look on many fashion websites,” he says. 

“You can then suggest other items they can buy, and you can upsell so that instead of buying one item, the consumer can buy two or three items.

"We could achieve the same experiences in stores. When you enter a fitting room, the fitting room can be smart and detect and know which pieces the consumer is trying on.

"On a screen, they can see how they would look with complimentary pieces that could be paired with their fashion choice. All the customer has to do is like it and click on it. Then the sales associate brings it to the fitting room."

Levinger's concept may sound futuristic, but the technology already exists – through online sites. 

He understands the importance of the creative and technological side of retail. Levinger attended Telcom Paris, the top engineering school in his native France, where he specialized in mathematics and physics. 

He then went on to work with some of the top fashion photographers in Paris after deciding he wanted to focus on his artistic side. 

This led to him developing the unique ability to marry tech and creative needs that worked effectively to grow the brand's profits, online functionality, and exposure.

Concept stores are also already a reality in a more primitive form. French fashion retailer Ba&sh integrates tech into its physical store by enabling customers to choose some of the label's signature items and 'borrow' them for 72 hours.

Levinger believes that the integration of on and offline as one in fashion retail will soon be typical: "We are talking about eCommerce being one and the same on two different channels. One will enrich the other. This will also strengthen the relationship between the consumer with the brand.”

He adds: "When a consumer discovers a brand, go into a store, and have a whole experience, but when they are home, they want to be able to keep shopping from the comfort of home while having a similar brand experience. To move forward, brands have to unify the offline and online experience."

Kimberly Henken, Key Account Manager with Farfetch, the online luxury clothing retailer,  worked closely with Levinger.

She says: “This is a global perspective. To develop these concepts needs a very specified skillset within still formalizing markets - eCommerce, marketplace, and tech - along with experience merging the in-store and online experience for the customer.”

Henken says Levinger’s unparalleled expertise in eCommerce had a direct impact on Farfetch and its revenue as they worked together: “After stepping up as E-Commerce Director for The Webster in 2017, Adrien and I worked in tandem to grow the business double digits year on year from 2017 to 2021,” she says. 

Henken adds: “His knowledge around business-to-business integrations, POS systems, retail operations, and organizational structures was integral to the businesses growth.”

Laurent Malcaze is the CEO of the luxury brand Dunhill. He worked with Levinger at The Webster: “Adrien enabled us to reach double and triple-digit growth when he was at The Webster.  He had a very positive impact and made the business very successful. 

“Adrien is very curious and very aware of what is happening outside of the business so he can adapt and make it better. The systems he implemented are ones we are still using, which is a testament to how successful they are.”

ENDS