Sustaining Brick & Mortar through Omnichannel: An emerging Story of Retail Business Model Convergence

Abstract

The Retail industry is not new to "creative destruction,” the process, coined by Joseph Schumpeter, which he meant for "incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, and incessantly creating a new one.”Many have predicted ecommerce as the next disruptive force that will recreate Retail by obliterating bricks-and-mortar stores. While many view traditional brick and mortar stores as more as a obsolete anchor rather than an advantage still nearly 90 % of retail sales still occur in physical stores. Retailers must use them to their advantage to push back against e-commerce competition. E-commerce is only 2-3% of the country's total retail scene till now. Brick and mortar outlets are trying to hold on to the business that has been theirs alone for years, through lower prices and deals. But, most retailers admit that with all establishment cost, their discounts can never compete with that of online, against which the brick and mortar is searching for a weapon to fight. Omni-channel retailing is an initiative by brick and mortar retailers to better integrate their stores and e-commerce channels by following a collaborative strategy instead of competition leading to their survival and success instead of failing by waging war against an opponent with all the latest weaponry which is the ecommerce. So a retailer can facilitate buying online and pick-up at store; or order online for delivery to home from a store; and several other combinations of fulfilment paths are also possible. Omni-Channel Retailing is a seamless approach to the consumer experience through all available shopping channels, i.e. mobile internet devices, tablets, computers, physical store, television, radio, direct mail, catalog and so on. Retailers are meeting the new customer demands by deploying specialized supply chain strategy software. With the onset of omni-channel as a retailing, marketing can be made is made more efficient more personal with offers tailor made to a specific consumer determined by purchase patterns, social network affinities, website visits, loyalty programs, and other data mining techniques. The study involved literature review, expert interviews and customer surveys that led to new insights of sustainability in retailing ,unearthing opportunities for brick and mortar firms to stop playing catch-up and start integrating channels as  now it is now clear that consumer expectations are rapidly evolving, and today's consumer demands can be better met by an integrated omni-channel experience. The Omni-Channel opportunity makes this one of the most exciting times in history to be in retail for those skilful enough to grasp the opportunity. According to a research report from Research Info Systems (RIS), retailers miss 6.5% of potential revenue because they are not on the omni-channel wagon. What can Omni-Channel retail operation do for retailer of our country by utilizing mobile technology to optimize supply chain operations and streamline customer fulfilment? This paper tries to bring forward strategies align with opportunities and challenges for Omni-Channel to retailers, areas of partnerships through technology and systems integration providers.