The Age of the More Than Pure-Play eCommerce Seller

While big retail chains dramatically reconfigure their legacy investment in brick-and-mortar locations, pure-play eCommerce companies are figuring out how to get physical.

It isn’t just that people still tend to shop more in stores than online. Physical interaction with a product in some sectors is essential. What does that fabric feel like? What size will fit me better? Is that furniture as comfortable to sit on as it looks?

Thus, some companies that were once pure-play digital suppliers are taking advantage of retail outlets, while traditional retailers are closing stores and expanding online offerings.

This reconfiguration isn’t just adding sales channels for pure-play sellers. It’s part of a trend where the distinction between a wholesaler and retailer is not so distinct.

Not So Pure-Play eCommerce Anymore

New York City-based Casper is a case in point. The two-year-old brand is well-known as a pure-play digital purveyor of self-inflating mattresses.

The eCommerce model kept their initial costs low, and the airless, pre-pumped state in which the mattresses ship to customers made order fulfillment less expensive.

Now Casper appears to be setting up a “fleet” of brick-and-mortar sites after test-piloting the concept with pop up stores in New York, Los Angeles and London. The company hasn’t announced the number of stores it plans to open, but the plans seem part of Casper’s move from pure-play digital into a mix of eCommerce, retail and wholesale.

The company has inked a deal to sell through retailer West Elm, and according to one article, Casper is hiring a manager to develop a wholesale business.

If Casper is any example, markets are shaping up to favor companies that are not “pure-play” anything. According to Inside Retail magazine, pure-play eCommerce retail makes up a fraction of sales compared with omnichannel sellers, and the omnichannel can easily include brick-and-mortar, wholesale trade, online marketplaces and websites.

The more channels a company trades through, the greater the need to reign inventory for keeping stock levels and COGS low, managing sales online and in stores, and optimizing order fulfillment from warehouses and 3PL locations.