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Brick-and-mortar stores can be found in shopping malls, town centers, city streets, or the outskirts of small communities. They sell something\u2014like clothing or groceries\u2014for customers to visit, view, and purchase.<\/p>\n
Despite the shift toward online shopping, brick-and-mortar retail stores continue to grow. In 2022, US retailers opened\u00a0twice as many stores as they closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re curious about brick-and-mortar retail, you\u2019re in the right place. This guide walks through how the brick-and-mortar business model works, examples of successful retailers with their own shops, and how to open a brick-and-mortar store of your own.<\/p>\n
What is a brick-and-mortar store?<\/h2>\n
A brick-and-mortar store is a retail location where business owners showcase their products using a physical storefront. Customers then visit the store to browse items, talk with sales representatives, try on or test products, and purchase goods.<\/p>\n
Popular brick-and-mortar stores include grocery stores (like Whole Foods), specialty stores (like CVS), and department stores (like Macy\u2019s).<\/p>\n
Open a physical store with confidence<\/p>\n
Shopify POS is the easiest way to expand into physical retail. Get set up fast with the software and hardware you need to take payments, manage your store, staff, inventory, and customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
How do brick-and-mortar stores work?<\/h2>\n
Brick-and-mortar stores sell products to customers who stop by and shop. An attractive storefront (maybe with\u00a0visual merchandising displays) draws in passersby. Here\u2019s what that can look like:<\/p>\n
Once customers enter the store, they view, touch, and interact with products they\u2019re considering buying. There may be an option to try on the item in the store\u2019s fitting room.<\/p>\n
Sales assistants are often on hand to guide customers through that process. They\u2019re able to greet customers, answer questions, and check the availability of stock. The end goal is to bring a customer to the checkout desk to complete their purchase.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brick-and-mortar stores can also act as hubs for\u00a0omnichannel\u00a0retailers who offer experiences such as\u00a0in-store events,\u00a0local pickup, buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), or buy online, return in-store (BORIS).<\/p>\n
Open a physical store with confidence<\/p>\n
Shopify POS is the easiest way to expand into physical retail. Get set up fast with the software and hardware you need to take payments, and manage your store, staff, inventory, and customers.<\/p>\n
Email addressStart free trial<\/p>\n
Advantages and disadvantages of brick-and-mortar<\/h2>\n
What are the strengths of opening a brick-and-mortar store? The weaknesses? Let\u2019s look at both.<\/p>\n
Advantages<\/h3>\nReach customers who don\u2019t shop online<\/h4>\n
Not everyone uses the internet. Sure, it has a global penetration rate of\u00a092%, but there are still potential customers you could alienate by going ecommerce\u00a0only<\/em>.<\/p>\n The rise of ecommerce hasn\u2019t outdated brick-and-mortar; it\u2019s highlighted how important both experiences are for customers. Having a brick-and-mortar store to complement your ecommerce strategy targets both online and offline shoppers.<\/p>\n \u201cRetail offers us a market that we wouldn\u2019t access online,\u201d says Esther Babayov, marketing director of\u00a0The Suit Depot. \u201cThere are just certain demographics that prefer to shop in person\u2014such as older customers, customers who are unsure of their size, customers who are looking for something super specific, etc.\u2014and if we were only online we would be missing out on all of those opportunities to serve those customers.\u201d<\/p>\n One way to combine online and in-person shopping is \u201cclick and mortar\u201d or\u00a0phygital retail. In this case, people order the item through an online retailer and head to their physical store to collect the item.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earl of East\u00a0is one retailer that used\u00a0click and mortar\u00a0to keep its physical store open during the pandemic. Customers downloaded a mobile app to order their food and drinks, and the store was open during the day for collection.<\/p>\n Did you know that\u00a0millennials value experiences\u00a0more than material items? It\u2019s one reason why brick-and-mortar stores still thrive\u2014they offer both.\u00a0<\/p>\n Casper is one retailer that combines customer experiences with its brick-and-mortar stores. It launched\u00a0The Dreamery\u00a0back in 2018. Busy New Yorkers could visit the store and pay $25 for a quick nap in a Casper bed.\u00a0<\/p>\n While you don\u2019t have to go to this extent, you can provide in-store shoppers with the personalized experiences that ecommerce stores can\u2019t deliver, such as\u00a0immersive retail\u00a0or\u00a0content creation studios.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe opened our first brick-and-mortar store last year,\u201d says Candice Small, founder of\u00a0Candid Owl. \u201cWhilst successfully selling our product online, we were increasingly receiving requests from our customers to open a showroom\/retail unit to enable them to visit and experience our products in person. Our customers can now touch, feel, and experience our fabrics in person to select their bespoke lampshades with confidence that they will suit their home d\u00e9cor.\u201d<\/p>\n Running a brick-and-mortar store can be a fun and profitable venture, but it does have a few challenges:\u00a0<\/p>\n Brick-and-mortar stores have been around for centuries. They let customers interact with products and staff firsthand, offering instant gratification by taking home products right away.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ecommerce refers to the buying and selling of products online. It\u2019s become popular because customers can shop anywhere, anytime, from the comfort of home.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here are some of the differences between brick-and-mortar and ecommerce:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a closer look at these different types of brick-and-mortar stores.<\/p>\n Saks, Sephora, and Nordstrom are all examples of brick-and-mortar department stores. The value of in-store sales inside\u00a0US department stores\u00a0has been relatively stable over the past three years, bringing in $11.4 billion in April 2023, equal to the amount brought in in April 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brick-and-mortar businesses like Home Depot, CVS, and Petco all specialize in one product\u2014be that home improvement items, cosmetics, or pet food. In most cases, shoppers visit specialty stores with an item already in mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n Grocery stores are another example of brick-and-mortar retail. Brands like Walmart, Trader Joe\u2019s, and Costco have bases in most states.<\/p>\n Data shows\u00a0that 50% of US consumers spent more on groceries than they did the previous year as of March 2022. Person. Grocery stores are the primary in-store shopping location for almost half of all customers\u2014hence why brick-and-mortar grocery stores generated $8.12 trillion in 2022 in the US alone.<\/p>\n Convenience stores are small retail businesses that are typically open long hours and found in easily accessible locations. They carry a range of everyday items like groceries, snack foods, confectionery, toiletries, soft drinks, tobacco products, and newspapers, often at slightly higher prices due to their convenience.<\/p>\n As of\u00a0December 2022, there were 148,026 convenience stores in the US. Those stores\u2014including 7-Eleven and Casey\u2019s\u2014made\u00a0$906 billion\u00a02022.<\/p>\n To fully understand how a brick-and-mortar store functions and operates, let\u2019s look at some real-world examples. Here are a few successful brick-and-mortar businesses.<\/p>\n Wildling\u00a0is a German shoe retailer that opened its first brick-and-mortar showroom last year. It uses Shopify POS, which fully integrates with its ecommerce platform, to show real-time stock availability, manage inventory, and track orders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since using this setup for its first brick-and-mortar location, Wildling saw 50% more first-time shoppers in its physical showrooms.<\/p>\n Beauty Heroes\u00a0was a successful ecommerce retailer that wanted to open its first brick-and-mortar store. It combined the two channels\u2014online and offline\u2014using one single\u00a0point-of-sale (POS) system.\u00a0<\/p>\n The launch of its first brick-and-mortar store was a success. The Beauty Heroes team saved hours reconciling customer information across both channels\u2014valuable data it can use to retarget and analyze.<\/p>\n An increasing number of direct-to-consumer\u00a0(DTC) brands are partnering with brick-and-mortar\u00a0retailers to get their consumer packaged goods in front of foot traffic.<\/p>\n Neighborhood Goods\u00a0is one example of this in action. Its Austin brick-and-mortar store currently stocks a range of CPG brands, including BeHave, Just Water, and Chop Chop. It has plans for expansion into further locations later this year.<\/p>\n Yardbird, an outdoor furniture company, is a great example of a brick-and-mortar business due to its success in enhancing customer experiences through a combination of online and physical retail presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company sells its seating sets, dining sets, and accessories both online and in 25 showrooms across the United States. It provides a unique, engaging experience for customers as they can browse online and then visit a showroom to test the products before purchasing.<\/p>\n The customer-centric strategy includes a \u201cwhite glove\u201d service in showrooms. The company encourages customers to see, touch, and sit in the furniture, which gives them a tangible experience of the products.<\/p>\n However, Yardbird faced issues with its point-of-sale (POS) system as its old hardware wasn\u2019t suitable for its mobile-selling strategy, causing disruptions in customer interactions and inefficiencies for the staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yardbird resolved this issue by implementing\u00a0POS Go, Shopify\u2019s handheld terminal, which allowed staff to access product information, accept payments anywhere in the store, and check stock availability, all using a single device.<\/p>\n Peak Design, born out of Peter Dering\u2019s idea to make camera-carrying easier, now operates both online and in physical stores in New York, San Francisco, and Japan. However, a stationary point-of-sale (POS) system initially created bottlenecks and limited staff mobility in stores.\u00a0<\/p>\n To enhance the in-store experience, Peak Design integrated Shopify\u2019s handheld POS Go device, allowing staff to assist customers and process transactions anywhere within the store. This technological upgrade has not only streamlined the checkout process but also improved customer service, setting Peak Design as a successful example of a brick-and-mortar store.<\/p>\n Luxury retailer Burberry opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Shenzhen, China in 2020. But unlike most retailers, it didn\u2019t open the store with the vision of selling more merchandise. Instead, it prioritized delivering\u00a0immersive retail experiences\u00a0for its customers.<\/p>\n Its WeChat mini-program incentivizes customers to share their experiences on social media in return for social currency that can be redeemed for exclusive content. This gives the brick-and-mortar store an online presence, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n Burberry\u2019s social retail store in Shenzhen is a place of discovery that connects and rewards customers as they explore online and in-store. It marks a shift in how we engage with our customers, and we can\u2019t wait to share this innovative experience with the world.<\/p>\nDeliver better customer experiences<\/h4>\n
Disadvantages<\/h3>\n
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Brick-and-mortar vs. ecommerce<\/h2>\n
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Types of brick-and-mortar stores<\/h2>\n
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Department stores<\/h3>\n
Specialty stores<\/h3>\n
Grocery stores<\/h3>\n
Convenience stores<\/h3>\n
Examples of brick-and-mortar stores<\/h2>\n
Wildling<\/h3>\n
![\"wilding](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1246\/6441\/files\/wilding-shoes.png?format=jpg&quality=90&v=1685396912\")
Beauty Heroes<\/h3>\n
![\"beauty](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1246\/6441\/files\/beauty-heroes.png?format=jpg&quality=90&v=1685396942\")
Neighborhood Goods<\/h3>\n
Yardbird<\/h3>\n
![\"yardbird\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1246\/6441\/files\/yardbird.png?format=jpg&quality=90&v=1685396969\")
Peak Design\u00a0<\/h3>\n
Burberry<\/h3>\n
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