The National Retail Federation Study

The Quarterly Consumer View offers some interesting findings

• “Whether shopping in-store or online, consumers are typically seeking to buy a certain item rather than just browsing, with 73 percent surveyed saying that’s the case with stores and 54 percent online, according to the report. And in either case, 58 percent rated being able to find what they want quickly and easily as their top factor in determining where to shop. Shopping ‘just to browse’ has shifted to being more popular online (done by 46 percent of those surveyed) than in stores (27 percent).”

• “Among those shopping online, 68 percent expect free shipping even on purchases of less than $50, with 47 percent saying they typically back out if shipping isn’t free. And 38 percent expect two-day shipping to be free while 24 percent expect free same-day shipping.”

• “The survey found 59 percent of consumers are interested in special events retailers hold to draw customers into stores or onto websites, including the ability to try out products, exclusive access to sales, demonstrations and product tutorials. Millennials are particularly enthusiastic about special events – 44 percent said they were “very interested” compared with 25 percent of consumers overall. And Millennial men (60 percent) were more likely to be ‘very’ interested than Millennial women (28 percent).”

 The announced death of the bricks & mortar stores is far from reality.