Brick and Mortar's Savior: Humanity

As technology continues to advance, it will allow consumers to shop in a "wholly immersive way," writes DPHA Conference keynote speaker Doug Stephens in his spell-binding book ReEngineering Retail: The Future of Selling in a Post Digital World.  Virtual reality will take us wherever we want to go, Stephens surmises.  Virtual augmentation will create lifelike stores wherever we happen to be at the moment.  Will technology eliminate shopping as we know it?  The answer is a resounding "no".  Stephens argues that "As long as humans shop for reasons beyond the mere acquisition of things, physical retail spaces will remain relevant.  In fact, as we become increasingly tethered to technology, they will become even more valuable, more cherished, as our hunger for visceral and emotionally connected experiences intensify." 

Moments of discovery, surprise and delight are additional reasons why brick-and-mortar will continue to be destinations of shopping choice.  Technological advancements have not expanded the world around us.  Instead, they contracted our vision and perspective.  As Stephens points out, Facebook does not increase our circle of friends, it contracts who we network with by limiting our interactions to only those who are like us and avoiding those who are not like us.  The same can be said of Netflix.  It does not expand our film watching horizons, it actually contracts them by recommending offerings that are similar to the ones previously viewed.  Recommendations based on past experiences and patterns saps buying of  the possibility of accidental discovery. 

"The joy of shopping lies in the delicate balance of relevance and randomness," Stephens writes.  Humans crave the surprise and delight of encountering products and stores we had no idea we would cherish, products that we did not know existed or experiences that come out of nowhere to surprise and enhance us, Stephens says. 

Another reason for brick-and-mortar survival is the human need for human interaction.  We like crowds.  Need proof?  Watch the lines of people outside department stores on Black Friday or outside an Apple store before the launch of a new product. 

Shopping is also physiological.  "Our brains love shopping.  In fact, when it's good, retail is essentially a legalized form of crack. No joke.  Our neurological response to a great shopping experience is virtually identical to the one produced by crack cocaine - because they're both reliable producers of a chemical called dopamine," writes Stephens. You don't get a jolt of dopamine buying on Amazon or any online etailers. 

Physical stores have a distinct competitive advantage over online shopping by having the ability to deliver custom experiences.  Decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms can deliver compelling customer experiences through working displays, demonstrations and the ability to surprise and delight by introducing products and applications that your customers could never have encountered regardless of how much time they spent on Houzz or any other website. 

Want to learn the secrets to making your showroom deliver jolts of dopamine to your customers?  Plan to hear Doug Stephens at the DPHA Annual Conference and Product Showcase, October 12-15, at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort, Chandler, AZ. 

Click here to reserve for the Conference.