Is 2012 the year big box retail finally dies?
With the recent announcement from Sears Holding
Smaller is better
Trends seem to indicate that small, niche stores could be where consumers begin to spend their money before moving completely online. Apple
And sales don't tell the entire story. On a recent visit to an Apple Store in the Washington, DC area, it was nearly impossible to navigate the store because of the amount of customers. However, Apple has great processes in place to ease customers through their purchases, eschewing traditional checkout lines for a bunch of "Geniuses" with payment-processing iPads.
Customer service is also taking on a renewed importance. Smaller stores, which generally spend less in overhead, can afford to spend the money hiring employees that are more knowledgeable about the products that they sell. If these smaller stores can continue to focus on customer service, it may slow the move of consumers to making all of their purchases online, instead pushing customers from larger format stores to more focused retailers.
Online -- the continuing wave
Continuing to lead the online retail wave is Amazon.com
Amazon does online sales right, including being ranked the best e-tailer this holiday season, scoring 88 out of 100 in a consumer satisfaction survey. Best Buy, on the other hand, recently struggled to fulfill online orders in time for Christmas, showing that an online presence doesn't equal online performance. Though Best Buy has attempted to rectify the situation by providing some affected consumers with gift cards, the impact of failing to ship could be felt going forward as customers go elsewhere after spending their free gift cards.
What this means for investors
Even though Best Buy and Sears Holding's best days may be behind them at this point, there are other retailers that still make great investments. In fact, one retailer has been anointed as "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012." Start 2012 off right by signing up for this new special report by clicking here!