What do we mean when we say brick and mortar?
Brick and mortar refer to businesses with physical stores or offices where consumers can talk to employees and staff face to face or evaluate items and services personally. We can say that the most common and famous type of brick and mortar business is the grocery store where one can enter and scan through tangible products and the employees are ready to assist.
Explaining brick and mortar businesses further
We can say that technological advancement has changed the way people shopped and lived. In construction, people innovated products like steel, sand, and cement due to this advancement. Although there are already plenty of options to build a structure, some people still use the brick-and-mortar method.
The same is right with the brick-and-mortar concept in commerce. The brick-and-mortar method is very traditional and uncommon today, but some people still found success using it.
Reasons why consumers would still prefer a brick and mortar business
Let us list down some reasons why a customer would still prioritize a brick and mortar business:
- Physical evaluation. Consumers can physically check the appearance and condition of their purchase. Sometimes, purchases may look different in pictures and real life.
- Testing. Consumers can be confident that the item that they bought is damage-free after the testing. If somehow there is a defect, the return and replacement is a lesser hassle because it can be on the spot if the consumer doesn’t cause the fault.
- Restaurants and food places. Most retailers and physical stores tend to incorporate food businesses so that people can stop and have a drink or bite before and after their activities in the physical store.
- Payment methods. Some people may have issues with online payments due to widespread scams and deceits. In a way, if you have a transaction physically, if something goes wrong then, you can complain right away and talk to someone.
Brick and mortar vs. digital
We can take Waltmart Inc. as an excellent example of a successful brick-and-mortar business. Walmart is a family-owned business that became the biggest retailer company by revenue and the world’s most enormous retailer. It boasts a total of 11,443 total stores and clubs all over 27 countries under different names. Furthermore, due to technological advancement, they are also looking at investing in e-commerce and foreign market growths.
On the other hand, we can take Amazon as a perfect example of a digital or web-based business. They operate without having a physical store because all the details and information of an item are on their website or application. This purchase method can also give consumers flexibility and convenience since they can shop at any convenient place or time.
There are certain advantages and disadvantages on both sides. Some brick-and-mortar businesses have a hard time competing with Amazon, albeit being a web-based business. But Amazon, on the other hand, is strongly competing with the brick and mortar business Walmart.
While Walmart is looking at e-commerce, some digital-based businesses consider building physical stores to fill in what their business lacks.