With the advancement of the internet, the e-commerce industry thrived. New doors opened for small businesses. They can let the customers find them or directly push their products to the customer without traveling miles. Many digital stores opened without any actual brick-and-mortar stores to cater to the customers. Warehouses and a strong internet presence could make them thrive. With the lockdown in the past year, many retail stores had to put locks over their doors.
The ongoing pandemic slowed the economy and emptied the banks for those relying entirely on retail channels. We all faced the economic brunt in full frontal. With some relaxation in lockdown regulations, the high streets have opened again but reluctantly. The glory of high streets is still nowhere like before, hopefully, but not so hopeful for the brick and mortar stores.
The excess footfall with still not fully vaccinated citizens will cause chaos. And with the lack of customers, the stores will have a hard time. It might seem that retail stores will totally vanish from the high streets. But that is far from the truth.
Retail Stores Themselves Won’t Survive
A mix of both retail and online stores can make it out of this peril. Relying just on the retail channels will make it difficult to even keep the stores open. But by mixing both of them, a business can survive.
Take, for instance, the eyewear industry. Unlike fast fashion-like outfits, you don’t just pick the product and get it delivered. Each pair of glasses come with different specifications. They are made according to the order and sent to the customer. Whether you are ordering men’s glasses or women’s glasses, you will choose the style, the right fit and provide the prescription. If you do not know your prescription for your eyes. You will go to an optician.
In the traditional method, you would go to your local optical store and choose your glasses. The optician in the house would test your eyesight and provide you with an updated prescription. You can then place your order and wait for your eyeglasses to be manufactured.
Glasses seller cannot just sell their products online. They need physical presence too to give other services like eye tests, reglazing glasses, or simply a second purchase.
Many Still Believe in Interaction than Contactless
In the UK, it’s not yet the time of the millennials who prefer contactless shopping experiences. They prefer buying online and doing everything without having to meet the person behind it. But the X and Y generation still prefer exchanging a few talks with the salesperson. Add the baby boomers to the ratio too.
Further, eyeglasses are not that easy to buy online. You can buy an ill-fitting outfit and not regret it as much as you would with ill-fitting glasses or wrong prescription glasses.
Glasses are expensive, and you will wear them daily, unlike your outfit. You can throw away that outfit in some corner of your closet and forget about it. You cannot do that with your glasses.
And buying glasses online becomes more of a hassle if you have specific requirements like your face shape is not like the regular crowd. Some people have big faces with different requirements for glasses frames. You might need a bit longer temple length than the average person. Or you have a slightly bigger nose that you will need to try out the glasses first before buying. You will rather interact with the glasses seller directly and tell him your requirements.
Specscart, an independent eyewear business, has opticians in Bury and in Walkden. If you are anywhere near Bury or Walkden, you can just hop in and get your glasses made.
Online Buying is Convenient, But Retail Stores are Faster
You can go through the catalog of glasses. Choose the one you like and order them. You can even order those glasses that come under your budget but with the most functionality. You have the option of comparing sellers, whereas if you step into a store, you will think of buying from just that order. You can’t scrounge through many different sellers physically.
But when you order glasses from a retail store, you can get your glasses a bit faster. If you have an urgent requirement, a local optical store can keep your order at the top and get your prescription glasses with the exact requirements at the fastest speed.
Specscart with both physical and online stores give you the convenience of choosing any style of glasses and even allowing you to compare with other sellers. You can buy prescription glasses online or order them directly at the store. In any case, you get the fastest delivery within 24 hours.