Smart Retail, 4th Edition

Chapter 6

Retail secret six: the everywhere store

Now that it is possible to exist everywhere and anywhere, should you?

In this chapter we explore

• location agnosticism versus omni-channel
• the irrelevance of distinctions between online and offline
• the new meaning of location.

The benefits of reach

You don’t need me to tell you that the digital age has made it possible for you to reach more customers in more places than ever before. As a result, I’m sure we’ve all seen those strategy documents or business plans where, under the section on “target audience”, you find something along the lines of:

• Target audience: everyone.
• Age range: 10 to 100.
• Location: everywhere.

You could argue this is a bold and uninhibited plan, the sort of blue-sky ...