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The Consumerization of Retail

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Consumerization of RetailOver the last few weeks, I’ve been working on a couple of solution briefs that talk about “the consumerization of retail”. Odd turn of phrase, right? After all, isn’t retail all about consumers? But don’t shoot the messenger because this isn’t just a term I’ve dreamt up – it’s been lurking around for a while but now it’s quickly emerging from the dark corners of the Web.

The consumerization of retail is all about retailers transitioning to provide a single face to you, regardless of how you’re viewing them. A great example is Amazon. When I put something in my shopping cart via my desktop browser (yes, those do still exist), then grab my iPad or my Nexus 7, my shopping cart is intact – as is any list of favorites or even recent searches. So no matter what channel I use, I see a single face. Millions of smaller companies partner with Amazon, recognizing that this kind of capability means that their products might get put into a shopping cart that they might never have had access to if Amazon didn’t offer such a great partner program (exposed through APIs, of course). BTW, when I say millions, I’m not kidding. According to Amazon, there are over two million sellers in the Amazon Marketplace – 65% more than a year ago (not a bad growth rate).

eBay is another online retailer that “gets” the omni-channel approach which consumers are beginning to take for granted (an approach that will discussed in detail during our upcoming webinar). According to eBay’s 2013 Annual Report, eBay Stores did $6.7 billion in 2013, an 11% increase over 2012 – and 40% of those purchases had a mobile touch (meaning that the consumer may have viewed the items multiple times and that at least 40% of those times, mobile was involved).

Certain brick-and-mortar stores, such as Best Buy and Walmart, also understand this approach. With these retailers, you can now use your computer and/or mobile device to browse, place an order and pick up your purchase at your local store (and you can seamlessly switch from computer to device).

Why would a retailer want to allow that, instead of “trapping” you in their store? Easy: in the mobile age, consumers don’t want to be forced to continue using the retailers’ paradigm. They want the freedom to choose how they view items. How they buy items. How they take ownership of items. Consequently, retailers are finding that they have to offer this level of freedom, to stay competitive. That’s why it’s called “the consumerization of retail”. Retailers are having to accept that mobile consumers want – and increasingly expect – to take control of the shopping process.

Those retailers that adapt to the consumerization of retail paradigm are the ones that will survive (if you don’t believe me, look at the roadkill on the consumerization highway – Borders, Circuit City and Blockbuster are three examples of brick-and-mortar operations at the top of their game that refused to adapt and failed to survive the transition to the Web, which was just the first step toward the consumerization of retail).

The consumerization of retail is a rising force. Brick-and-mortar and conventional Web shopping sites that don’t embrace this are doomed to become niche (or non-) players in the next generation of online retail.


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