Heck, you may not believe it, but e-commerce has turned our trading lives upside down. Back then, we went shopping, picked and chosen, and chatted with the proprietress about family life by the way.
What now? Everything was settled online. Brick-and-mortar stores are about to be overwhelmed by e-commerce. However, then again, brick-and-mortar stores are a lifesaver for some people. This contest can be described as both challenging and full of opportunities.
The rise of e-commerce. You think, sitting at home with a few clicks of the mouse, you can buy everything, and it's often cheaper than in a physical store. This sounds great, but for a brick-and-mortar store, it's a bolt from the blue.
But don't forget, although e-commerce is good, not everyone can have fun. Especially those who are older and have a low level of education, where do they go to shop online? For them, a brick-and-mortar store is more than just a place to buy things, but more like a place to socialize.
Although brick-and-mortar stores have irreplaceable social functions, the pressure to survive is also increasing. You see, the traffic is not as good as before, and the income is getting less and less day by day. Even those brands that were once famous are now gone.
Let's talk about e-commerce platforms, they are not charities, and making money is king. Want to open a store on an e-commerce platform? That's not cheap. Not to mention those expensive margins and annual fees, the commission per transaction alone is enough to overwhelm small businesses.
The competition is fierce, in order to attract attention, businesses have to keep advertising, promotions, this speed of burning money, is even more fierce than fighting.
Ads are spent, money is spent, but who can guarantee that they will make money? Many times, a lot of money is thrown into it, but in exchange for a small return.
Faced with this situation, many brick-and-mortar store owners have also begun to ponder transformation. Some try to combine online and offline, carry out online booking, offline pick-up services, and try to provide consumers with a more convenient shopping experience.
The transition wasn't all smooth sailing. First of all, funding is a big problem. Renovating the storefront and upgrading the system requires a lot of silver.
This battle between e-commerce and physical stores is like a war without gunpowder. On the one hand, it is a convenient, efficient and low-cost e-commerce, and on the other hand, it is a warm, down-to-earth and humane physical store.
The price behind such a war is enormous. Not only economically, but also socially. As brick-and-mortar stores become fewer and fewer, the days of casually strolling around the street and chatting with shopkeepers seem to be slowly disappearing.
For brick-and-mortar store owners who remain on the front lines, every day can be a new challenge. How to find their footing in this rapidly changing era and not be overwhelmed by the torrent of the times is the reality they must face.