The Future of Retail Part 1: Why We Still Need Stores in a World That Delivers Everything
Retail isn’t dying. Bad retail is dying.
In a world where you can buy anything from your couch, the real question is:
why do we still walk into stores at all?
Because e-commerce won convenience — but it killed the hunt.
Physical retail taps something older and deeper in us:
Discovery. Identity. Story. The dopamine hit of finding the thing you didn’t know you needed.
We’re entering a two-tier retail world:
1️⃣ Transactional retail → automate it, ship it, don’t think about it
2️⃣ Experiential retail → where expertise, emotion, and in-person discovery actually matter
(skis, bikes, outerwear, the categories where you feel the product before you buy it)
The future belongs to retailers who know the difference.
If you’re thinking about the future of retail, experience, and mountain culture…this series is for you.
Why We Still Need Stores in a World That Delivers Everything
The holiday season is when my discretionary spending goes vertical. Gifts, gear, last-minute “that would be perfect for her” purchases — I’m reminded how messy and unpredictable real purchase journeys still are. One minute I’m watching a swim meet, the next I’m ordering a coffee mug for my daughter because something — a line, an image, a feeling — pushed me from interest to buy.
And that brings me to the real question:
In a world where you can get anything online, why do we still need brick and mortar?
Why do I still walk into a ski shop? Why do grocery aisles still pull us in? Why does physical retail still matter?
The answer requires going backward before we look forward.
Retail Started as Trade — and Trade Started as Hunting
Brick-and-mortar retail isn’t a business model. It’s a human instinct.
Trade — both selling and buying — has been the engine of prosperous societies from the beginning. And shopping, in its modern form, still taps into something primal: our drive to hunt, to discover, to feel the dopamine hit of finding something that makes us — or someone we love — happy.
I grew up in Wisconsin in the ’70s where my mom treated the grocery store like a treasure hunt. We walked every aisle. Not because she needed to — but because she loved the discovery. That early exposure shaped my entire career in CPG and retail. Even now, I can still feel the spark of a great find.
E-Commerce Won Speed. But It Lost the Hunt.
Fast-forward to today. E-commerce has achieved its purest form: search → click → buy → done.
In that model, everything works — except the part that matters.
There’s no discovery. No narrative. No personalization. No role for emotion.
Amazon saw this gap and tried to close it with their “5-Star Stores.” Convenient? Absolutely. But they simply transplanted the transaction into physical space. No salespeople. No curation. No story. And no reason to come back.
It didn’t work because transaction alone doesn’t justify a trip. Experience does.
We’re Entering a Two-Tier Retail World
What’s emerging now is clearer every season:
1. Transactional Retail (E-commerce + Subscription + Low-Engagement Purchases)
Automate it. Outsource it. Don’t overthink it. Winter beanies, driving gloves, paper towels — all belong here.
2. Experiential Retail (High-Engagement, High-Emotion Purchases)
These are the categories where the hunt matters:
Buying skis
Choosing a bike
Upgrading outerwear
Selecting gear that expresses who you are and how you move through the world
I may visit my favorite ski shop multiple times before I buy. I’m flexing skis, talking to techs, imagining next season. I’m not just purchasing — I’m evaluating, learning, and confirming the story I want to tell on the mountain.
You simply can’t replicate that with a “Customers also bought…” carousel.
As Life Gets More Complex, Retail Splits Even Further
Technology is automating our low-lift decisions. But our human wiring still craves surprise, story, and connection.
We want friction removed where it slows us down. But we want friction preserved where it creates meaning.
The trick for retailers is understanding which trip your customer is on.
So What Should Retailers Do?
1. Know the “why” behind the trip. Is the customer here to transact…or to discover?
2. Remove friction for transactional missions. Don’t force “experience” when someone just wants to get in and out.
3. Deepen experience for high-engagement missions. Expertise. Storytelling. Trials. Sensory cues. Human connection.
4. Treat stores as stages, not stockrooms. A good store doesn’t just sell product — it changes how customers feel about themselves.
Closing Thought
Physical retail isn’t dying. Bad retail is dying.
What survives — and thrives — are the places that honor our need for discovery, identity, and human interaction.