In-Store Innovation Keeps Customers Coming

THE RETAILPOCALYPSE MAY NOT BE QUITE HERE YET—AT LEAST FOR APPAREL. BY DIANA PEARL

- Diana Pearl

The Limited. Wet Seal. Payless ShoeSource. BCBG Max Azria. Claire’s. Nine West. Toys R Us. Brookstone. The list reads like a directory of a mid-aughts shopping center. But in actuality, they’re just a few of the latest casualties of the so-called “retailpocalypse.”

The term might feel hyperbolic, but with new stores frequently announcing closures or bankruptcy filings, the state of the retail industry (particularly the brick-and-mortar brands that once felt like staples) often seems, well, apocalyptic. But according to a June 2018 study of 1,500 people by international management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, the pivot to ecommerce may not be as intense as consumers might assume, particularly in the apparel sector. The study reports that traditional brick-and-mortar stores account for 80 percent of clothing and shoe purchases. This number not only reflects results from past years, but even shows a potential growth in brick-and-mortar shopping—in 2015, a study from Fluent said that 55 percent of people primarily shopped for apparel in-store.