CNN – Traditional brick and mortar stores alone are not enough to be at the forefront of the digital era. America's buyers want practical, trouble-free experiences.
So Walmart and Nordstrom build physical stores that do not actually sell anything. The two dealers create small hubs in big cities and close suburban areas for buyers to retrieve their online grocery stores and clothing orders. These new places give them access to buyers who want their stuff without getting out to regular big box stores or waiting for home delivery.
Earlier this month, Walmart Walmart Pickup Point, a 40,000-square-foot prototype store outside Chicago, opened in Lincolnwood, Illinois, to accommodate customers' online pickup and delivery. Customers drive up to the designated parking spaces, and a Walmart worker will load the trunk with the order.
The inside of the Lincolnwood locations looks like a Walmart with groceries and groceries such as diapers, household cleaners and pet supplies. However, unlike a traditional Walmart supersource, customers will not be able to enter. It also tests a similar model near the Arkansas headquarters.
The new location "gives busy customers the opportunity to shop how, when and where they want," said store manager Nicole Olson in a release.
The new Walmart locations share similarities with Nordstrom Local, a concept Nordstrom was first introduced in Los Angeles in 201
Nordstrom Local hub is smaller than the traditional department stores. They provide customers with a place to retrieve and return and take advantage of Nordstrom's change and tailor-made services. Nordstrom has three local stores in Los Angeles and plans to open its first two in New York City in September.
Walmart and Nordstrom's innovations are the latest examples of how retailers try to create distinctive services to combat Amazon. [19659009] Buy online, pickup in the store grows
Dealers have expanded online pickup options online in stores in recent years.
Nordstrom offers pickup at all of the more than 100 locations around the world, while Walmart is on its way to offering more than 3,000 of its stores by the end of 2019.
Walmart Pickup Point and Nordstrom Local are a Otherwise, these retailers are trying to exploit pickup growth, especially among younger and wealthy customers. [19659002] More than 15% of US buyers have already tried online retrieval, and sales will hit $ 35 billion annually by next year, Cowen analysts estimate in a report.
Pickup on the outskirts is the "night ural evolution of the traditional store experience in the store," Cowen analysts said in the report.
Pickup appeals to buyers who want to grab their stuff and go without waiting for cash lines or interacting with salespeople on the floor, analysts say. Retrieving orders from stores can also be faster than home delivery.
For retailers, pickup is a better financial model for them than delivery because they can avoid paying expensive shipping fees. The profit margins of many stores have declined in recent years due to investments in the e-commerce supply chains.
Creating Customer Loyalty
Walmart points out that the Lincolnwood hub extends the ability to attract customers in an area where it can. It does not fit one of the 178,000 jumbo stores on square meters.
For Nordstrom, customers who visit local stores use two and a half times more on average than regular customers, according to the company. Customers also tend to be younger and more frequent Nordstrom buyers than those who do not shop at Local.
"The expansion of our local market strategy in New York City is a cornerstone of how we want to improve our service to our customers," shop president Jamie Nordstrom said in May.
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