Craig Patterson and the Growning eCommerce Trend

Craig discusses the new trend of ecommerce brands moving into brick and mortar at a time when many original brick and mortar stores are closing their doors. He says that when online retailers open stores it is to drive sales to both channels and having a brick and mortar allows them to win over consumers face-to-face. It is a better way for them to engage their consumers in a more human way.

He specifically speaks about the experience of buying mattresses online and how Casper has opened a brick and mortar store in Toronto which is very different from a traditional mattress store. Instead of the high pressure sales experience Casper creates sleep rooms for people to try out the beds. It starts at the front of the store with a daytime theme and ends at the back with a night time theme. The strategy is great to help people interact with the online brand and, though consumers can buy in-store, it allows them to feel safer with their purchase of a Casper bed.

Craig says that there is a lot of competition to get people into malls right now. One of the best malls he uses as an example is one in Yorkton, and he says that it is based on the stores that they have in there. The brands are all typically high end and cater to a high end crowd as well as largely to tourists, who are willing to walk around and count that as part of their experience.

He also says that malls need to have a real differentiator, perhaps unique experience to bring people in. One thing he mentions is the increasing trend towards pop-up stores. He says that even department stores are starting to take to the pop-up trend. Another way the malls can enhance the experience for consumers is by holding many brand activations, where the brands will bring in teams and make a sampling event or maybe a full experience to try what’s new in the brand.

When it comes to marketing to increase traffic for a brick and mortar store, Craig has 3 suggestions: Influencer marketing, media partnerships, and doing whatever you can to build a level of trust and rapport with consumers based on the idea of them coming in to actually experience the brand.

In 2019 Craig feels there may be more store closures and he says that retailers have to work harder to stay relevant with consumers because Canada’s population is not growing that fast yet more new stores are entering the market, meaning competition for the existing market will become tighter and more fierce. Part of that will be keeping abreast of any news and trends in the market so they can always stay ahead of the game.

Written by Claudia Palomino