(Quoted from Kelsey Johnson and bigpicture.net. Full article here.)
Never-ending social media posts. Emails constantly dinging into your inbox. The latest podcast now streaming. Today’s consumer is overwhelmed with status updates, news, information, advertisements, and notifications, not to mention the growing reign of e-commerce.
While headlines throughout the past five years have declared brick-and-mortar retail another alleged casualty of the millennial generation, the data show another story. While 79 percent of Americans report making purchases online, only about 15 percent make online purchases on a weekly basis, according to a 2016 report from Pew Research Center. And two-thirds of online shoppers actually prefer buying from physical stores, especially when purchasing something for the first time. US shoppers value the in-store experience of asking employees questions, comparing prices, and being able to see, feel, and try out the item they’re interested in buying.
Though consumers may prefer shopping in a store, their purchasing decisions ultimately come down to price. Email blasts, Twitter and Instagram feeds, Google ads, and myriad other mediums constantly bombard shoppers with steals and deals. How can a brick-and-mortar retailer break through? With so many distractions vying for a customer’s attention, retail and point-of-purchase displays have to be more than eye-catching. They have to be absolutely riveting. 

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