The End of Shops: Social Buying and the Battle for the Customer

By: Cor Molenaar

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Synopsis: Shops are facing tough times: recession, local legislation, parking problems, competition from the internet and the strong position of suppliers. Buying on the Internet 24/7 has become a real alternative to the local shop with its rigid opening hours and limited choice. So is there still a future for the traditional retailer? What are the latest developments in this environment and how can these be translated into significant business models? Cor Molenaar analyses the struggle and the risks to describe the opportunities and potential for the retail trade to turn the tide. He looks at the new buying behaviour of consumers (the new shopping), the evolution of retail (how it used to be, how it is now and what it has to become) and shows what the future for the shop will actually look like. Shops need to change, to reassess their unique customer appeal and work in new ways with suppliers and customers if they are to survive. Online retailing is often seen as the panacea, but is that really the case? The internet will undergo many changes, too. Many e-retailers will disappear or end up surviving on the margin of the mainstream. Only the most canny suppliers and webshops, those that can make best use of the opportunities offered by the Internet will survive.