Brick and Mortar Retail Attracts Technology Investment

Technology investors are moving dollars from e-commerce businesses to brick and mortar retail, finds a study by CB Insights, a market intelligence company. The new data reflects new interest in brick and mortar. Investment in retail technology dropped from $68 billion in 2018 to $45 billion in 2019, with the dollars shifting to online meal and grocery delivery applications and new e-commerce centric popups looking for temporary brick and mortar space, according to the CB Insights study.

While the number of investment deals declined from 2018 to 2019, the dollar volume of brick and mortar investment rose significantly. The largest investors are the big brick and mortar players such as Walmart, Target, Kroger and Amazon (of course). This trend reflects that even those businesses whose primary revenue stream is online commerce feel that a brick and mortar presence is necessary.

Seamless checkout ala Amazon Go has attracted a substantial share of brick and mortar investment dollars. The ability to collect data from in-store shoppers and their habits is another major investment brick and mortar retailers are making to help improve inventory and advertising decisions. Kroger has partnered with Microsoft to develop a consumer behavior data collection platform. Walmart has earmarked $200 million to modernize its Canadian stores with the new versions featuring retail pop-ups, mobile phone checkout and digital price markers that can be changed instantly to respond to shopper trends. CB Insights expects continued investment in in-store data collection technologies and an expansions of robots roaming store aisles. Retailers are also earmarking technology investments to artificial intelligence applications for brick and mortar stores.

How are you using technology to grow your brick and mortar business?