Can Brick and Mortar Stores Compete With Amazon This Holiday Season?

Every holiday season, it’s the same debate. Are brick and mortars, especially independent stores dying a slow death. Yes definitely. That’s if their strategy is to compete with Amazon on pricing or product selection.

Amazon makes billions of dollars in sales. Small brick and mortar stores of about 500 sq ft. makes about 600K in sales a year. So there really no competition really. The real question is, how will brick and mortar succeed in the face Amazon’s dynamic pricing and superior e-commerce experience.

Let’s say you’re looking for a gift. Now we we can think about this

Why would people shop at small brick and mortar stores instead of Amazon?

You won’t find it on Amazon
As more people choose to shop for unique one-of-a-kind products, brick and mortar stores are in the best position to fill that need. Emerging designers who create these products, care deeply about their brand and want to be seen only at stores that fit their aesthetic. Amazon isn’t anywhere on their radar.

It’s human curated
People who open brick and mortar store do so because they either have a design background or are tired of mass market ubiquity. Shoppers can rely on the taste and curation of the store owner to not only guide, but narrow down their choices for a quick checkout. Human curation still beats software. If you want to see Amazon’s poor taste in curation, check out Amazon Handmade.

You know who made it
This is very important to consumers now. Brick and mortar store owners personally know the people behind the products, their motivation, their story. They can pass that along to customers, which turns the product into an experience. People buy experiences. and this simple exchange creates a lot more value in the customer’s mind.

You need it right this second
This has been touched upon in other posts. You have 10 minutes to buy a gift. Impulse buying and instant gratification are what the stores are great at. A small space ensures that you don’t get lost in aisles. However, with 10 minute drone delivery, stores may lose this advantage but that will still take time.

Paying extra for all that is worth it
The pricing at brick and mortar is Amazon agnostic. No one is going to pull out their phones and do a price comparison because you won’t have anything to compare to.

The fringe benefits are great
Smaller stores are great with setting up events, shows and workshops. It becomes a venue for people to not only shop but also hang out and build community. You can get to know the store owner. The relationship is much more intimate than clicking a buy button.

To really compete at scale, brick and mortar store can start to organize themselves better with software. It’s also easier now to open an e-commerce outlet than it is to do all of the above to run a brick and mortar store, so the stores are at an advantage. Once the brick and mortars organize with software, their collective power can not only compete, but even crush Amazon. Whoa!