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Despite finding it difficult to compete with eCommerce giants such as Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:AMZN) and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:EBAY), the global in-store and brick-and-mortar industry generated an estimated $19.1 trillion in 2021, and total spending on brick-and-mortar alone is expected to reach $702.17 billion this year.
This trend may mark a serious comeback for the two industries after sales plummeted in 2019 through 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic compounded by competition with the eCommerce sector. The growth is probably because COVID-19 movement restrictions didn’t permanently change peoples’ shopping behavior — many customers prefer physically viewing products before making a purchase as well as asking a salesperson for advice rather than interacting with a virtual assistant.
Not long ago, some analysts were predicting that brick-and-mortar stores would come to a screeching halt owing to the booming eCommerce industry. Their predictions seemed to be true when one of the leading chain stores, JCPenney announced an optimised strategy that would see many of its retail stores closing in numerous locations across the U.S. between 2020 and 2021.
However, this forecast has seemingly not fully materialised. While many shoppers use the internet to search for products, some prefer going to a physical store to make the actual purchase, which could be why in-store sales in the U.S. in May rose by 10% at a time when eCommerce transactions fell by 1.8%, according to a report by Mastercard (NYSE:MA) SpendingPulse. The share price for a number of eCommerce retailers, including Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY), Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) and Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W), dropped in May.
Payment Platform Innovation For Brick-And-Mortar Stores?
Numerous companies are now reporting increased initiatives and products to support specifically physical retail operations. The fintech player The OLB Group Inc. (NASDAQ: OLB) could be an example — it says it is geared up to offer some of the best omnicommerce solutions as well as a financial dashboard for brick-and-mortar store merchants.
The company’s financial dashboard allows merchants to accept payments, manage inventory, handle social media marketing campaigns and manage loans. In a recent letter to shareholders, the chairman and CEO for OLB Group, Ronny Yakov, says that the company aims to become the go-to destination for both online and brick-and-mortar businesses.
To accomplish this goal, OLB reports it will soon be accepting all kinds of payment methods, including cryptocurrency and NFT loyalty rewards. On top of that, OLB says it will soon launch a service that will see merchant businesses lending money from the company to grow their businesses.
OLB also revealed that its revenue has grown since it acquired a cannabidiol (CBD) merchant portfolio with an annual transaction volume of over $400 million last year for a total of $1.35 Billion in annual transaction volume. The company shared that its eCommerce solutions annualized revenue run rate is over $35 million and are used by 10,500 merchants in over 150 industries in all 50 states of the U.S.
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