(Walmart's location in Silver Springs Crossing now has separate online order pick-up on property)
In the world of retail, the internet is usually characterized as both the future of retail and the killer of brick and mortar stores. The reality is much more nuanced. Currently, internet sales make up about 9 percent of total retail sales; 30 percent of e-commerce sales go to Amazon. Internet sales continue to grow rapidly; most experts put internet sales at around 20 percent of total sales by 2030. Here is where it gets murky. The second largest e-commerce retailer is Walmart, much of which is picked up at their stores. Approximately half of internet sales are to retailers who have brick and mortar stores. Retailers are getting very creative at using their stores both to fulfill internet orders and be distribution centers. Interactive kiosks in stores are becoming more commonplace. Amazon, of all companies, is opening brick and mortar stores. Walmart is experimenting with small stores that are primarily pick up locations for internet orders, including groceries, that are filled at a nearby Supercenter. The fact is that brick and mortar and the internet are integrating with ways we wouldn’t have imagined. Expect this to continue. Brick and mortar aren’t dying; it is organically changing in response to changing consumer tastes and buying preferences just like it always has.
