Online sales have been growing at double-digit rates and the implications profoundly point to the reality that consumers prefer online tools and have permanently shifted their shopping and buying preferences. The “Clicks and Bricks” business model is rapidly unfolding as retailers counter the juggernaut of online retailers such as Amazon. Online providers are disrupting the retail industry because of innovation, in the true spirit of the Clayton M. Christensen book, The Innovators Dilemma. As we enter the “back to school” and 2012 peak holiday buying periods, these realities will be more apparent.
This author just posted our periodic guest commentary on the Infosys Supply Chain Management blog reinforcing that as retailers in all dimensions continue to innovate or enhance their bricks and clicks presence, the most important enabler of digital commerce capabilities will be the efficient and effective deployment of advanced information technology. That stated, important organizational change management and reward mechanisms need to be the building blocks for sustaining these efforts.
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