[May 15, 2012] Clicks and bricks for retailers [Daily Post (Liverpool, England)] Tweet (Daily Post (Liverpool, England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LAST year, it was reported that ailing high-street sales were boosted by online spending. Now internet retailing trade body IMRG and consultancy Capgemini are predicting a further 13% growth in 2012. Online sales totalled pounds 68bn - 16% more than the previous year. So, while growth in bricks and mortar trading has been hampered by the downturn, e-tail is still an emerging industry which is clearly experiencing an upturn. It seems as though all the growth in the retail sector in recent years is coming from online and digital channels, which account for 17% of total retail spend and plays a part in almost every sale in the form of research, social media engagement or reviews. It may not be too long before online and digital sales overtake the high street completely. Instead, high street stores may be seen as additions to the online shops and simply serve as a location to pick up items bought via "click and collect". But it's not just high street stores which will have to adapt - all brands need to turn their attention to a multi-channel offering if they want to stay ahead of the game. Even online provider eBay dabbled with a pop-up store in December, and it has long been rumoured that Asos.com, champion of pure-play online retail, is looking at opportunities for its brand to have a physical high street presence. In 2011, click and collect was the talk of the town. As more people use smartphones and more tablet devices become available, retailers and brands will both need to be looking at the opportunities this presents in terms of brand engagement and sales and start to consider a more integrated multichannel offer. INTERNET entrepreneur Ben Hatton is founder and managing director of digital agency Rippleffect. Follow Rippleffect on Twitter @rippleffected (c) 2012 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]