Friday, Texas rolls out its “retail to go” model as the state moves toward reopening the state.
Retail analysts think this “pick-up retail” could be a precursor to sweeping and lasting changes to shopping trends.
“We will see an increase in what I call clicks to bricks," said Erik Rosenstrauch, retail marketing analyst with FUEL Partnerships. "So, people using apps to make a purchase and then go to the store and pick up. About 40% of the population is now picking up in store over this duration. A year ago, we only had about 19% of consumers doing that.”
“Those retailers that were already going in that direction have been able to win. Walmart has 3,000 stores that already had their buy online and pick up in stores,” Rosenstrauch added.
"It’s going to be harder for the local stores at the end of the day. There’s a lot of conversation now that your big retailers are going to get bigger through this,” Rosenstrauch said. “Walmart, Costco, Amazon, Target to some extent – those are the ones that are going to win.”
Rosenstrauch said local owners will need to lean on the community until they are able to make the transition
“I think if you are a local retailer, you’ve got to leverage the fact that you’ve always been there for the community. You’ve always understood what your local community needs,” he said.
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Customers may see fees start to drop or fall away as companies compete for customers in a new delivery and pick up culture.
“We are truly entering a very deep recession and the average shopper is not going to be able to pay for those kinds of fees that some of these other delivery services are charging right now,” Rosenstruach said.
