The holiday season is finally upon us, bringing with it Christmas, a time for celebration and gift-giving. With more families looking to save time, online shopping has increased exponentially over the past years.
Cyber Monday, Black Friday and Thanksgiving sales were at an all time high this year. With more people shopping online this year, local brick-and-mortar stores in the Syracuse may be struggling to compete.
Paul Blackley, economics professor at Le Moyne College says, “People are really looking to their smart phones and tablets to make their purchases.” Blackley added that, “Mobile device sales are up 50% from last year and Amazon has about 50% of those sales online last year.”
This is impacting businesses in Syracuse.
It means that companies need to find creative ways to encourage customers to come to their store.
Kathie Miller, the owner of The Clothing Store in downtown Syracuse, mentioned that she is hosting fashion shows and events for women in her store so it attracts more people to come shop. She believes that events like this are unique and brings an environment that online shopping doesn’t provide.
“Online shopping is a great outlet for toys, general apparel, and name brands, but if you want something special you should be coming to a boutique because boutiques provide a uniqueness to them with a variety of clothing,” Miller said.
A benefit of shopping in stores is being able to try clothes on but also to have someone help you find items to buy. Miller justifies this by saying, “Women want to touch things, they want to feel things. They want to have someone help them pick out something to wear.”
Although Dr. Blackley believes retail shops are going to continue to struggle against online platforms, he does think one thing could help them in the coming years and that’s great customer service.
