Article
MIT Sloan Management Review

The Store Is Dead—Long Live the Store

By: David R. Bell, Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno

Format:Print

Abstract

In this article, we pursue two interconnected themes: the expansion of online-first retailers into offline stores that serve the purpose of “supercharging” customer value, and the transformation of the stores of offline-first retailers from fulfillment-dominant centers into experience-dominant centers, which simultaneously reduce store size and inventory while improving the customer experience. In doing so, we explain how offline-first retailers can benefit from mimicking the showroom concepts started by online-first retailers and why online-first retailers can benefit from opening more traditional stores.

Keywords

Customer Experience; Inventory Control; Omnichannel Retailing; Online Marketing; Marketing Channels; Trends; Transformation; Digital Marketing; Retail Industry

Citation

Bell, David R., Santiago Gallino, and Antonio Moreno. "The Store Is Dead—Long Live the Store." MIT Sloan Management Review 59, no. 3 (Spring 2018): 59–66.