Online retail sales still account for a small percentage of overall retail sales. Well run retail operations that integrate online, store pickup, and in store purchase will be the winners. Going online only for Kmart is not Kmart. You can tell so many of these executives don't like shopping as they don't understand what makes it a fun activity for some people. Physical shopping will never go away because there is a significant portion of the population who actually enjoy the shopping experience. You cannot replicate online the fun of spending an hour browsing a physical store, picking up a pair of jeans, a bag of chips, and a new beach towel. Honestly, they don't understand what makes discount shoppers tick. Yes, sometimes some customers would rather order that new electronic item online or a big ticket purchase, but for a lot of people there is enjoyment in purchasing the little nik naks in person.
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@qrh - I am not the poster you responded to, however, I was a Sears associate. My association with Sears ended when they closed our store and assigned it to the "dustbin of history."
our technology is not static neither are people and society!
Dustbin ? How can you say that now that the remodels have started?????? Do you even work at sears?
The original post is spot on. Shopping isn't just about picking up merchandise. It's entertainment, a distraction, a social event for a lot of people. And much of the time it's more convenient than paging around through catalog pages on the internet, then waiting days/weeks to get the product. That's why internet sales still account for less than 10% of total retail sales. Companies that get it will survive. Just look at Walmart, where they are developing online sales while also building new stores. Then there's Sears Holdings, which will go into the dustbin of history for failure to recognize how people actually want to shop.
Yes, that's why the strategy of focusing on online while not putting anything into the stores to make the shopping experience more pleasant was a mistake. Only 360 stores now so money needs to be invested into making the in store experience better.
Sorry for repeating, but I don't think I articulated my point so I'll repeat. Blockbuster and online shopping are two different issues entirely. Blockbuster had a case of selling an obsolete product. This is not the same as selling a relevant product via a different medium.
The problem is no one goes into a real Kmart. Look at your holiday sales. Getting worse everyday.
Blockbuster is not the same thing, what happened there is that the products they sold went digital. If people had continued to buy physical movie dvds then they still would have been able to sell in stores. I don't think jeans and potato chips are somehow going to become a digital product.
Blockbuster said the same thing.