Neon Pool Store Sign
It's true that retail store closures are on the rise, with long-time standards such as Toys R Us in peril (at press time, crowdfunding efforts were underway for the toy giant, and a formal bid of almost $900 million had just been made.).
However, business experts and consultants insist this doesn't spell the end of physical retailing.
In this Forbes piece, Joyce Solano, senior vice president of global marketing at mobile marketing platform Leanplum, makes the argument that private labeling (which the writer refers to as own brands) and personalized mobile marketing hold the key to survival for brick-and-mortar retailers. These tools, she says, enable brick and mortars to respond not only to the public's move to the web as a shopping tool, but also to the increasing emphasis placed on experiences over material goods.
