The rise of digital has hit traditional retailers hard - so how should the co-op sector adapt?
On 11 August 1994 Phil Brandenberger of Philadelphia made history: he made the very first secure online purchase using a credit card.
The item bought? Sting’s fourth studio album, Ten Summoner’s Tales.
A quarter of a century later, almost anything you can imagine can be bought online, from cars and clothes to bacon flavoured dental floss and Justin Bieber’s right shoe. But this colossal rise of e-commerce has posed unique problems for bricks-and-mortar retailers. How on earth can you compete with the scale, pricing and convenience of online shopping, when you have rents, rates and staff to pay?
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