How E-commerce Compares to Regular Brick and Mortar Stores [Infographic]

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podcast | Skillz Middle East

How E-commerce Compares to Regular Brick and Mortar Stores [Infographic]

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There’s a case to be made that brick and mortar stores are utterly doomed in today’s tech-driven society that’s gradually becoming more reliant on the online world. After all, there’s no way regular shops can stand on their own against the practicality of e-commerce, right?

With a preliminary background in communication and expertise in community development, Josh works day-to-day to reshape the human resource management of digitally based companies. When his focus trails outside of community engagement, Josh enjoys the indulgences of writing amidst the nature conservations of Portland, Oregon.

Josh Wardini

Guest Writer

Well, despite this point of view making a whole lot of sense at first glance, the statistics paint a different picture. In the United States, offline commerce still has 10 times the market size of online sales. Evidently, a substantial number of people still prefer the traditional method of purchasing goods and are more comfortable with it than they are with venturing online in order to find what they need.

However, while the brick and mortar stores don’t have to worry about being pushed out of the way any time soon, a study by RedBrain reveals that e-commerce is growing at a significant rate. And it has been growing for quite some time now, especially since the millennials started tilting the scales in the favor of online shopping.

These are the advantages people who prefer shopping online often cite as the main reasons why that’s their preferred method of seeking out goods:

Online stores are available 24/7
Virtual platforms make it easy to compare and find better prices
Online platforms offer a greater variety of options
Shopping online saves a lot of time
Finding discounts is simpler
It extends the convenience of not having to leave home
No crowds, no checkout lines
It allows the ability to shop things otherwise unavailable due to geographical restrictions

On the other hand, those who still prefer walking down to a store and doing their shopping in person have their own reasons for doing so:

Having the ability to see and touch an item before buying it
No delivery time
The luxury of taking the item back home immediately
No fear of ending up with something they did not choose
No additional shipping costs
No danger of the item getting damaged during shipping
Being able to talk to a sales representative before buying
Enjoying the atmosphere of shopping on the spot
Simpler protocols if they wish to return the item

Obviously, the cons of each shopping method can be found among the pros of the other one – it appears that these two models of shopping are primarily focused on rectifying each other’s shortcomings.

The best way of understanding the dynamic correlation between regular stores and e-commerce platforms is to review case studies – the following infographic will use the examples of noteworthy store brands, like Walmart, Nordstorm, The Home Depot, Best Buy and others, and examine how their offline vendors measure up against the sales conducted on their online counterparts.

By doing so, the infographic demonstrates the balance of power distributed between each retailer’s brick and mortar stores and their own e-commerce platforms. It shows the numbers which reveal why brick and mortar is still the dominant model by a landslide, but also proves that e-commerce is tirelessly closing the gap between the two. Check the infographic below which illustrate 11 of the Brick and Mortar Stores and their online activities.