Eric Blankenship - guest contributor...
Upon a total of around $320 billion in 2016, the continued rate of growth of online retail in the U.S. is staggering and expected to hit $1 trillion per year within the next decade, according to industry expert forecasts.
However, for brick and mortar retailers, all is not lost, says Jay Noce, CEO of Charleston, South Carolina-based intelligent content production business, BravasLive.
While online purchases made up 12 percent of all U.S. retail sales transactions in 2017, Noce is keen to point out that the other 88 percent came from predominantly offline retailers.
"Last year," he explains, "online sales growth was especially impressive, and yet traditional 'offline' retail also grew over the same period."
The BravasLive CEO suggests that while, admittedly, offline sales growth can't match that of online transactions, brick and mortar businesses still have the upper hand in many respects.
"Big ticket items or products were getting hands-on is important are key," he notes. "Online retailers can never allow you to truly, physically assess an item, or deal face to face, in person, with a knowledgeable, passionate salesperson."
As a result, many brick and mortar retailers continue to thrive. "Sure," Jay Noce explains, "there are traditional operators going out of business due to competition from online. However, for every failed brick and mortar establishment, people must remember that at the same time one or more online businesses will likely fail to gain traction and cease operations too."
Jay Noce continues, "In essence, this is how business has always worked. It's all about different forms of competition."
Aside from the obvious importance of their product offerings, Noce is quick to put emphasis on another major factor common among successful brick and mortar retailers.
"Alongside an ever-important commitment to customer service and care is the need for smarter processes and cost-saving partners like BravasLive," says Noce.
"At BravasLive," he explains, "we offer the world's most advanced intelligent content production solutions and services, applied with best practices, standards, and scoreboard-based metrics, with our patent-pending solutions all, built on three defining pillars."
These, according to Jay Noce, are the most advanced and comprehensive omni-media production automation technologies, combined with best practice application of these technologies to maximize value and success, and transparent and contractual value delivery commitments.
"If a company's challenges include keeping up with production demands, containing production costs, accelerating speed and agility, or strengthening precision, control, and compliance," adds Noce, wrapping up, "then it's time to consider BravasLive."
Jay Noce is a serial entrepreneur and technology enthusiast. Noce has served as a C-level executive and private equity investor for over a dozen high-profile firms and is actively involved with numerous philanthropic ventures. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Randolph-Macon College and an MBA from Virginia Tech University, as well as certifications in a number of areas pertaining to leadership, sales, management, and mentoring.
To discover more about Jay Noce and BravasLive, please visit https://www.bravaslive.com.