The Brick and Mortar vs E-Commerce debate its over. It’s time to adapt or be left behind.

E-Commerce Native Brands: A new threat is looming on the horizon, and it could spell disaster for your business. The pandemic forced many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to pivot online, causing a surge in online storefronts. But now, the tide is turning against online-only retailers, and they are being forced to adapt or die.

“As it relates to DTC, one of the big value propositions was originally lower prices due to lower costs: physical store leases and rent being the biggest. That’s now shifted so you have to spend money on FB/IG/Google ads to acquire customers…likely as much or more than you would be spending on rent and/or leases. So the price edge that original digitally-native brands may have had…is gone.” 

• Native E-Commerce Brands have become so dependent on online acquisition that their margins are now almost entirely captured by Google and Facebook.
• Because of the fewer barriers to entry means more online retailers with an estimated of 24 million e-commerce sites across the globe.
• This Growth means brands competing for more customers as a result ads are more costly and less lucrative than ever before.
• Is estimated that ad prices could shoot up to 75%.
• The DEATH of third party cookies by 2023.
• Apple’s update on their iOS privacy policy.
• Fast forward today pre-pandemic has shifted consumers purchase behaviors.
• There is an even Higher demands for faster shipping.

This is not a “TREND” this is a DO or DIE DECISION for almost all the E-Commerce Native Brands 

In 2021 alone, U.S. retailers announced twice as many physical store openings as closings, including many digitally-native brands like Vuori, Fabletics, and Warby Parker. This trend is driven by pandemic-induced lease re-negotiations and retailers revisiting their income and expense structure, among other factors. But that’s not all.

Customers are increasingly seeking out tangible shopping experiences, especially after prolonged periods of lockdowns. As far back as 2019, 63% of customers in the 22 to 36-year-old age group were willing to switch to in-store shopping if the experience was improved.

And as Ricardo Belmar, Director Partner Marketing for Retail & CPG at Microsoft, points out, online stores still can’t match the product discovery and instant gratification of walking down a store aisle or looking at a store display to see something you want to pick up and buy.

Brick and Mortar was, is and will be king for the next decade.

So what does this mean for your e-commerce brand?

Simply put, it’s time to adapt or be left behind. A perfect hybrid strategy model that combines online and offline channels is essential to survive in this new retail landscape. Don’t wait until it’s too late – find out how to implement this strategy and stay ahead of the competition.

“The future retail will be ‘retail everywhere”