In this regard, Juan Carlos Gómez, director of industry for retail and multichannel at Google Mexico, comments that digital channels are no longer a bet, but a fundamental part of the sales of retailers in Mexico and by 2025, 24% of the total sales will happen through them.
“Physical stores are far from disappearing. They will continue to be important and it is being seen that some retailers are adopting new roles in them, providing alternatives such as, for example, being centers of experiences ”, he said in a virtual meeting with the media to present the study ‘The Future of Retail’, developed by Euromonitor International for Google Mexico.
In the document, the consulting firm estimates that physical stores will represent 76% of retail sales in Mexico, which means that 24% will come through electronic commerce. The analysis also highlights that 84% of consumers in Mexico enjoy buying both digitally and in physical stores, but they want to have the same level of service and variety in both experiences, in addition to being able to go from the online site to the physical store or vice versa in the course of the purchase process.
For Senties, with these new behaviors, supermarkets, department stores and other retailers have to articulate strategies to combine the points of sale and give added and differentiated value in each one. This means a challenge in the way of presenting products in a digital context, to highlight characteristics that were not considered in physical channels, where their success depends on their position on the shelves to be closer to the view or the hands of the buyers.
“In the digital environment, products cannot be felt and there is a different formulation to present them. Now, consumers, especially electronics, tend to go to stores after making a research online. Now various consumption patterns coexist with which players have to coexist and be aware that they have to offer a better offer and greater clarity in the value proposition at all points of sale ”, he points out.
The technological push has already paid off. According to Google, omnichannel retailers located in Mexico grew their sales 46% in 2020, while in the region the increase was 17%. In physical stores the trend was opposite and fell 16%. In the next five years, total retail sales in Mexico will increase 40%, outperforming the rest of the region by 15 points. In the same period, electronic commerce will increase 226%, after a 50% increase during 2020.