Is e-tail therapy the next retail therapy?

Shoppers today no longer simply go to the nearest store; they grab the nearest digital device. The online retail ecosystem is fast evolving. Digital analytics firm eMarketer projects that online retail sales will more than double between 2015 and 2019 and account for more than 12% of global sales by 2019. Retail therapy is giving way to e-tail therapy.

And it’s not just purchasing habits that are going digital: The whole retail experience is changing. Today’s shoppers are incorporating digital touch points along the entire path to purchase, from reviewing products online at home to using smartphones as personal shopping assistants in the store. In fact, in some countries, such as China, consumers are using mobile devices to purchase selected categories at high rates. Omnichannel shoppers seamlessly switch between on and offline channels with ease.

As technology adoption and infrastructure improvements bring more consumers online and familiarity and comfort with digital platforms increase, the continued growth of connected commerce is inevitable. But today there is much uncertainty about the convergence between online and offline shopping behavior and how to drive margin and profitability in both.