Erika Serow: Why Stores Still Matter in an Online World

Even though digital sales are growing, physical stores continue to offer value to consumers who enjoy the social and tactile aspects of shopping. While some companies opt to close weak stores and cut labor costs, those steps can undermine the customer experience. Instead, leading retailers focus on choosing the right technology upgrades, developing necessary capabilities, testing and learning from their efforts, and staying ahead of consumer behavior, says Erika Serow, who leads Bain's Retail practice in the Americas.

Read the Bain Brief: Three rules for building the modern retail organization