Sep 28, 2014

Why Stores Still Rule RetailBy Laura HellerForbes.com

For all the talk of how online retail dominates, the vast majority of purchases are still made in person, in a physical location.

Surprised?

E-commerce sales were just 6.4 percent of total retail sales for the second quarter of this year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, up from just 5.8 percent the same period 2013.

In some product categories such as electronics, online buying makes more sense. Products that can be easily researched and compared, with a purchase decision based largely on price, provide few compelling reasons to go out to a store.

But not all retail is created equal and some shopping needs to be done in person. Take, for example, three recent retail experiences that could not have been handled solely online.

The first two, a new car and a mattress, both began online. Like a great majority of consumers — 81 percent by some counts — a big purchase decision starts online. New cars and mattresses are big financial outlays and quite stressful experiences. Preliminary online research helps to mitigate that somewhat, but for me it was necessary to visit the physical location to test drive each.

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