News

In the wake of Sandy, brick-and-mortars become supply heroes

October 30, 2012

Storm preparations for Hurricane Sandy provided brick-and-mortar retailers a morale boost, serving as a reminder that online shopping is useless in times of crisis.

According to an article on nbcnews.com, the hurricane removed the luxury of waiting days for an item to arrive at your doorstep. 

"A storm is where you almost kind of kick back to old school," said Brian Sozzi, a retail industry analyst and editor of Decoding Wall St., in the article. "Everyone's saying that brick-and-mortar retailing is dead. All you need to do is go to Amazon right now and type in 'hurricane preparation' and nothing comes up."

Still, according to the article, experts say that retailers are making a big mistake if they ignore technology completely at a time like this. Forward-thinking retailers can use their websites, Facebook pages and other technology to help consumers figure out what stores are open, and who has items in stock.

Read more about online retailing.