Shopping: buy on-line, in store or both?

I have to buy a summer jacket, I will see what I find on internet, and I will go to the shop after to try it, find the right size, to buy the one which suits me best. But if I go to the shop and I don´t find what I am looking for, or even if I don´t find my size; whereas that we can find everything on internet, I think it’s better to go to the shop before to buy something because it’s important to see try each size, see the differents models to avoid a disappointment. And after buy it on-line. All the sizes are equivalent for each clothing, so if I see a model that I like on-line and which is not on shop, I can buy or try a similar one because I would know my size.

I am sure that we are more than one to have experienced this situation. Everything has been thought by the brands, in two types of stores, it depends of the intended target. The shops can have two functions : one to show the product, and the other to sell it.

In the one to show the product, they try to develop a concept which draws attention, stimulate the public for them to live a real “experience”. In this kind of shops you can find all the models but not all the sizes or colors, because the shop focuses only on what we know about the product, the corporate philosophy, its quality, its standing,… and all of this push us to buy, and this is the goal of the brands to make their sales profitable.

Is this type of store is always managed by the brand, and never by the franchisees. These are all the main shops of brands which sall by standing and quality instead of a less price.

In the shops which sall the product, they tried to have a similar concept, so there will not be a clear difference in the representation of the shop but you can’t find all products. They focus on a particular public and have the majority of sizes and colors. Their concept is different on the arrangement of the store, they have much more furnitures in the exhibition area, in order to allow the client to search and choose what he is looking for.

These shops are generally franchised, and are more focused on the price, in the field of franchising. Some brands have the XXI abbreviation of the market.

In my opinion, it miss a third option, and I don’t think it’s too late for the some brands to develop it : a shop which shows the product and give you the option to buy it on internet from the same shop. It could be the final solution that we can start to experiment. It will enable to profit of the purchasing feel. When I finish to do you product selection, I can buy it online from the shop by having sellers advices, and the advantage that my selection arrive directly at my home, with the option to choose all the sizes, colors of the brand products.

What about you, in which kind of shop do you prefer make your purchase?

Alejandro Mora Nuez

Partner

International Project Manager Director