It appears nothing is going to stop e-commerce from continuing to flood the retail market. With ipads, tablets, and other tech gadgets at the disposal of shoppers, retailers have accepted that they must find a way to interact with effectively selling online. Retailers now have probably found the best route to connect the physical brick-and-mortar location with online shopping. This may also be the best route to take to compete against the number one e-retailer in the world—Amazon.

Amazon is growing fast and retailers are after finding a niche to compete. In a recent report by Reuters, Experts are finding that “click and mortar”, or “click and pick”, is the best way for retailers to compete against Amazon. Click and mortar is a service that consists of the shopper having the ability to purchase items online and then going to pick up those items from their nearest local retail store. It combines store and online shopping.

It is interesting that click and mortar is not just a service being implemented in the US, but around the world. For example, the same competition is occurring in Britian regarding e-retail. Georges Plassat, head of Carrefour, spoke highly of click and mortar. He stated in the report, "I am totally convinced that click and mortar is the future". Carrefour is the number two retailer in the world. As big the company is, they are finding that it must have some form of success online. They cannot allow e-retailers like Amazon to gain too much e-commerce ground.

Another statistic to inform us of the global state of retail is a survey conducted by the Australian Centre of Retail Studies. It stated that 68% of retailers believe physical stores will remain the most important channel for shoppers, regardless of e-retailers. It will be a challenge for even e-retailers like Amazon, to be the bedrock for retail shopping within itself. However, it definitely can affect the pace of growth for physical stores. Mobile commerce is emerging as a force for e-retail as well.

E-retailers, specifically Amazon, are being seen as a threat to physical stores and some retailers taken the retail giant seriously enough to act. "Customers want to combine pure online with visiting stores. Stores have a big role to play," said Mark Lewis, head of John Lewis Online, a division of John Lewis, Britain’s biggest department store firm. The online company accounts for over 25% of group sales and is expected to reach 40%. This brings to mind retailers like Wal-Mart, which have implemented click and mortar to compete. Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Target, and others have also launched same-day delivery to offer shoppers the option of delivering their online purchases right to their front door.

Retailers that offer click and mortar can partner with same-day couriers like A-1 Express to offer innovative services like same-day delivery. As a partner, A-1 Express can be a recommended one-stop source for same-day delivery that customers are referred to. Therefore, instead of the shopper having only one option to pick it up themselves, they can as call on the San Jose Courier to deliver their online items directly to them.

Reference: 10.9.13, Reuters, Emma Thomasson and Dominique Vidalon, Retailers see "click and mortar" as way to beat Amazon