The purchase process for many goods has become a completely digital experience, with buyers and sellers all but eliminating human interaction. Almost everything can be done online. Unfortunately, that eliminates  in-person customer service when purchasing a product. Is that really what consumers want?

Retail is evolving.

Retail is changing so fast, it’s hard to keep up.

• Online merchants are going traditional and buying entire brick-and-mortar chains. (Amazon buys Whole Foods).
• Traditional retailers are buying same-day local delivery companies to compete with online merchants. (Walmart buys Parcel).
• Big-box retailers are encouraging customers to demo products without ever entering the store. (Ikea uses augmented reality to bring the showroom to your home.)

The one thing that never changes, however, is that the customer is always right.  Why? Because they always have the final say on whether to give their business to you or someone else.   

How well do you know millennial shoppers?

By now most retailers should be familiar with the millennial shopper:

• 80 million U.S. consumers born between 1980 and 2000
• The first truly digital generation, they are “more wired, more community conscious, and more skeptical of traditional business practices” than previous generations.
• They spend $600 billion annually on goods and services.
• They are savvy value shoppers, relying on peer recommendations, online reviews and “show-rooming” to get the best prices.
• They prefer to spend money on experiences, not “stuff;” many don’t see themselves ever buying a car or a TV.

Within any industry, there are issues that arise from time to time, and some issues that may arise more frequently. Direct sellers are not immune to these sorts of problems.

But like any successful enterprise, they look for ways to adapt. So, what are some common pain points direct selling organizations and their distributors face, and how can they overcome them?

The purchase process is quickly becoming a completely digital experience, with buyers and sellers all but eliminating human interaction. Almost everything can be done online. But is this what consumers want: no in-person customer service when purchasing a product?

It’s evident: The traditional retail industry must adapt or end up like the dinosaur. The retail-store bubble has burst, and — as store space has become more burdensome — businesses are looking for omnichannel strategies to keep up with consumers’ evolving shopping habits.

Take a look at the latest trends in retail, and one fact becomes abundantly clear: e-commerce is the only place where substantial growth is occurring. With double-digit growth annually over the past few years, e-commerce is the future of retail. 

But not all e-commerce is created equal. By that I mean not every e-commerce business knows what it takes to be successful in the current customer-centered climate. 

A few weeks ago, I blogged about one of the most dynamic new trends in e-commerce: cross-channel sales. This is the trend toward consumers selecting and buying their items online and picking them up at a physical location, be it a retail store or distribution center.

E-commerce has been on the rise for years. And now, for the first time ever, research shows that shoppers prefer to purchase online rather than in stores.

But that hasn’t eliminated businesses’ need for a physical location entirely. In fact, along with the popularity of online shopping, another trend has emerged that is forcing companies to rethink their supply chain and inventory strategies: the cross-channel shopper.