Future of Retail Stores

This assignment examines the challenges and opportunities facing retail stores in the digital age. It emphasizes the importance of omni-channel marketing strategies to cater to both online and offline customer preferences. The analysis highlights the role of innovation, including online payments, social media marketing, and customer feedback integration, in enhancing competitiveness and securing the future of retail stores like Coles.

Running head: THE FUTURE OF RETAIL STORES
The future of retail stores
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1THE FUTURE OF RETAIL STORES
The future of retail stores
Introduction
In the present business scenario, retail stores will have to initiate various contemporary
means in order to stay ahead in the competition. The key competitions of the contemporary retail
stores are will the online marketplace. This due to the reason that, the taste and preference
pattern of the customers are rapidly inclining towards the online shopping. Thus, it is important
for the retail stores to enhance their online presence. Coles is one of the leading supermarkets in
Australia having product portfolio for consumer goods. In the recent times, they have also
opened their own online stores in order to enhance the customer convenience and to stay ahead
in the competition. However there are various other means to initiate in order to secure the future
of the retail stores.
Importance of Omni channel marketing
According to Piotrowicz and Cuthbertson (2014), Omni channel retailing is one of the
most effective means of surviving in the present competitive retail scenario. This is due to the
reason that, currently a major portion of the customers still prefer the offline retail markets over
the online market. According to the authors, initiation of only the online market will therefore
deprive the retail store in catering to this customer segments. One the other hand, online
shopping is becoming a trend recently and it is covering more number of audiences and thus it is
also important for the retail stores to have their online presence also. Thus, according to the
authors, the future of the retail stores such as Coles is depending on how effectively they are
maintaining their Omni channel retailing to cater to both customer segments.

2THE FUTURE OF RETAIL STORES
Initiation of innovation
According to Aubrey and Judge (2012), using of internet should not only limit to the
online marketplace only, rather the internet should be use in enhancing the innovation in the
existing offline retail stores. According to the authors, initiation of online payment, credit
payment and garnering the feedback from the customers through the use of online marketing
techniques such as social media marketing will help to enhance the competitiveness of the retail
stores. Thus, according to the authors, innovation is also one of the key aspects in securing the
future of the retail stores.
Recommendations
Thus, in the case of Coles, they are already having their own online marketplace along
with their retail stores. However, availability of their product in the third party online market
place will further enhance the penetration of their online presence. Moreover, it will cater to
more number of customers along with increase in the visibility of their products being available
in their offline stores. Another recommended step should be initiation of online payment
facilities and social media marketing in their offline stores (Rose et al. 2012). It will help them to
enhance the convenience of their customers opting for their offline stores. Moreover, initiation of
the social media marketing will further help to effectively determine the trend and requirement of
the market along with identifying the feedback of their service and product delivery (Erdoğmuş
and Cicek 2012). This will help them in modifying and enhancing the existing customer service.

3THE FUTURE OF RETAIL STORES
Reference
Aubrey, C. and Judge, D., 2012. Re-imagine retail: Why store innovation is key to a brand's
growth in the ‘new normal’, digitally-connected and transparent world. Journal of Brand
Strategy, 1(1), pp.31-39.
Erdoğmuş, İ.E. and Cicek, M., 2012. The impact of social media marketing on brand loyalty.
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58, pp.1353-1360.
Piotrowicz, W. and Cuthbertson, R., 2014. Introduction to the special issue information
technology in retail: Toward omnichannel retailing. International Journal of Electronic
Commerce, 18(4), pp.5-16.
Rose, S., Clark, M., Samouel, P. and Hair, N., 2012. Online customer experience in e-retailing:
an empirical model of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Retailing, 88(2), pp.308-322.