Brick & Mortars Need an E-Commerce Mindset to Survive
Brokerage firm Credit Suisse estimates that more than 8,600 brick-and-mortar stores will close their doors in 2017. This projection trumps the rate of closures experienced during the 2008 recession, which is the worst year on record.
Some retailers, like the aforementioned JCPenney, are succumbing to the pressures placed on businesses by an increasingly e-commerce-centric economy. “We believe closing stores will also allow us to adjust our business to effectively compete against the growing threat of online retailers,” JCPenney CEO Marvin Ellison said earlier this year in a press release announcing the impending closure of between 130 and 140 locations.
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