The Future of the Brick-and-Mortar Store in the World of Multichannel Retail

Multichannel retail is nowadays a widely discussed topic in the field of retail, driven by the recent boom of e-commerce. Consumer demand and competition have driven retailers to operate through multiple channels. It has been uncertain how the multichannel retail will impact the physical retail. This thesis provides a major contribution in finding out how the physical retail space is influenced by the multichannel retail by examining the role of brickand-mortar store in the multichannel world and finding out the influence of the multichannel retail on the retail store networks, store locations and the quantitative space needs of the retailers. The thesis was done by examining literature and by conducting six thematic interviews with experts working for retail companies or consultancy offices. Furthermore, data was collected with a survey which was sent to 101 experts and 17 responses were received. Physical space has advantages that cannot be replicated online and the stores will remain in the future as well. The stores may turn more into showrooms and pick-up points but the traditional role of a store as a transactional place will not disappear. A plausible future is that stores will become more hybrid spaces combining different operations and integrating channels. The retailers will have pressure to rationalise the networks but multichannel retail is only one of the factors driving the change. The prime locations will remain strong but secondary locations will become less interesting for the occupiers and the bipolarisation of the locations may be seen due to multichannel retail. Leisure activities will play an important role in the world of multichannel retail. Furthermore, the changing retail environment requires more flexibility in the retail spaces and leases.