Bricks and Mortar Marketing in the 21st Century

In my last posting, I talked about the need for 21^st Century traditional toys to do what the Internet and computers cannot: Stimulate the physical senses. In the same sense, bricks and mortar retailers are going to need to market in way that their Internet competition cannot: Provide a hands on experience.

The hands on experience used to be the standard way of marketing toys. Demonstrators were ubiquitous in stores and street corners as they talked demonstrated and wowed impromptu audiences with what a toy could do. Retailers used demonstration tables to allow consumers to try out products and to see what they actually did. The marketing experience was physical and immediate.

Look for retailers to return to this type of marketing as a way to sell products and more importantly to draw retailers to their stores. As a result, 21^st century retailing may ironically look a lot like early and mid-20^th century retailing.