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Big boxes are building small stores – How small is too small?

As retail transforms, even the largest retailers are "right sizing" stores

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

In the heyday of mass merchants and hypermarkets, the philosophy was "bigger was better". Walmart, Target, Kmart and the clubs were in a race to build ever-larger footprints to hold increasingly larger assortments. Before the age of Amazon, "Big Box" stores were the category killers that created the destination locations to draw the masses. Today, the big retailers are now focusing on ever-smaller stores. Why? Will store downsizing continue? The current downsizing trend begs the question: how small is too small for a store?

Why this is important: The retail transformation to omnichannel challenges the basic concept of a store as a destination to purchase. The consumer quite literally has become the POS, which requires retailers to reexamine right sizing stores.

How “Less is More” when competing with Amazon

Curation strategies that limit choices improve CX and closing sales

By Chris H. Petersen

Image Credit: geralt; pixabay.com

When is too much choice a bad thing? Brain scientists and psychologists have discovered that too many choices overwhelms our brain. Too many choices becomes intimidating, frustrating and can result in fewer sales. Amazon has literally been creating a "store of everything". Few retailers can afford to compete with the "more" of everything in Amazon's ecosystem. However, research indicates that retailers can offer customers "more" relevancy and value by narrowing choice through curation. By helping customers narrow choices to what is most relevant, retailers can create a more positive experience and increase sales.

Why this is important: The historical premise of retail was "more is better". However, science shows that too many choices overwhelms our brain; we get frustrated and cannot decide. Retailers curating choices can achieve more sales.