MARKETING EVOLUTION
Marrying Brick And Mortar With Online
By Marion Wakahe
Access to the internet has become so embedded that Maslow ’ s basic needs have been extended to include Wi-Fi . And yet , public access to the internet is relatively young .
On 6th August 1991 , the first web page went live . It was created by Tim Berners Lee . On it was information about the World Wide Web and the process of setting up a server . It ran on a NeXT computer ( a proud moment it must have been for Steve Jobs considering that NeXT was the company he founded after he was forced out of Apple ) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research ( CERN ). Between 1991 and 1997 , the web grew at an astounding rate of 850 % per annum .
Jeff Bezos ( whose genius I believe is underrated ) had an instinctive understanding of the potential of the internet . He interpolated that the internet had grown by a factor of 2,300 or 230,000 % between January 1993 and January 1994 . Even though he worked at a prestigious hedge fund and was highly paid , he took a risk to start an online store . It was his perspective , “ things don ’ t just grow that fast ” that informed his decision .
After considering 20 possible products that could sell well online such as CDs , office supplies and clothing items , he settled for books . From his perspective books offered the comfort of similarity . Additionally , a virtual bookstore could offer millions of titles , which brick-and-mortar shops could not do because of limited space . In July 1995 , Amazon opened a virtual shop .
Many regard Amazon as the trailblazer in online retail and has offered numerous other online retailers the model with which to conduct retail business online . Undoubtedly , online retail turned out to be a good bet for Jeff Bezos . Every so often , my nephews inquire Jeff Bezos ’ net worth . The latest statistics ( March 2022 ) place Elon Musk as the richest man in the world with a net worth of $ 224 billion and Jeff Bezos as second richest with a net worth of $ 178 billion . Amazon ’ s net worth is $ 1401 billion ($ 1.4 trillion ).
“ Physical and digital lines have become blurred . Customers do not see experiences offline or online as separate from each other but rather as extensions of each other . As they shop for products in-store they could be on their smart phones checking on product reviews for the same .”
Online retail has grown exponentially over the years . This , because of improvements in technology and increased access to the internet , driven by the proliferation of smart phones . As of January 2021 , the number of active internet users stood at approximately 4.66 billion , 59.5 % of the world ’ s population . Though not everyone online is a shopper , there is an opportunity for businesses to make impressions on online users through the likes of search engines and social media . For this reason , retailers do best to be available online and avail online shopping portals .
As much as online retail has permeated significantly , it has not done away with physical shopping . Physical stores offer the advantage of experience in a way that online stores cannot . Through outstanding design , attractive merchandising , pleasant staff , etc ., physical stores entice people to walk in , explore and even purchase items that they may not have if shopping online . For this reason , many retailers maintain their physical stores as well as online stores . These types of retailers are known as brick and click retailers .
Other channels are also available for retailers to interact with customers such as call centers , social media , mobile apps , email , etc . Thus , the term omnichannel retailing . The main challenge for retailers is maintaining consistency across these different platforms in terms of branding , customer service , and marketing communications . Moreover , retailers face a customer base that is getting savvier and more affluent by the day . As such it cannot be gainsaid the need for innovation across a range of factors .
E-retailing describes the sale of products through an online platform or internet store . Also referred to as e-tailing , it is a type of e-commerce that focuses on physical
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