Online shopping continues to be a growing component of retail sales, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, UC researchers said. Growth in non-store retail sales, which includes online and mobile shopping, exceeded overall retail sales growth in Ohio in 2021 compared to 2020. Brad Evans, UC Economics Center director of research, said online sales are still less than 20% of all retail sales throughout the calendar year.
Local businesses told the Dayton Daily News they are both taking advantage of online shopping by selling products through their websites while also creating a personalized experience for shoppers in their stores. Some products are bought online less frequently, especially those that need to be tried on, or seen in-person.
“I think this season is going to be a telltale sign if brick and mortar is back,” said Emmatt James, assistant manager at Brim, a hat shop in Dayton’s Oregon District.
Brim has seen an uptick in its online orders, which are packaged from their storefront location at 464 East Fifth St. The store is operated by a team of four people, including James and shop owner Amelia O’Dowd, and they frequently draw in shoppers from outside of the Dayton region looking to experience the brick and mortar location.
“We actually get customers who drive to our store from Columbus, Indianapolis, Cleveland,” James said. “The hat shop is so unique ... It’s a whole different experience coming into Brim.”
The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants is also anticipating online shoppers to utilize curbside or in-store pickup options, and over 80% of shoppers are expected to use contact-less forms of payment.
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to be two great shopping days,” Gordon Gough, president and CEO of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, said to the Dayton Daily News last week.
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