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Ever find yourself up late scrolling online shopping,

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like midnight.

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Two shopping carts full,

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and you're wondering,

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how did anyone ever shop without this?

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The one-click ordering is dangerous.

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Oh, it really is.

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But that instant gratification thing,

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believe it or not,

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catalogs were about as close as people got back in the day.

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Hmm.

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And that's what we're diving into today.

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Yeah, it's really interesting to see

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how some of those same patterns repeat even today.

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Okay, so for those who weren't around in the late 1800s,

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set the scene for us.

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Mm-hmm.

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What was it like to shop back then?

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Well, you'd go to your local general store,

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you'd have limited options,

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whatever they had in stock.

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Talk about limited options.

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Yes.

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And no online shopping to fill the void.

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No, not at all.

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That's where the Sears catalog really made its mark,

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1888.

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1888.

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It completely revolutionized the way people shopped.

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So being able to reach people no matter where they were,

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it gave them a lot more options than they were used to.

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People must have been floored.

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I mean, 1888, that's before cars were even like a thing.

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Right.

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So what made it so groundbreaking?

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Was it just about having more things to choose from?

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Yeah, I think that was a huge part of it.

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It was this massive, almost like an encyclopedia

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of all these goods and products they could get.

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Everything from clothes to tools to furniture

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to prefabricated houses.

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Wow.

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In the catalog.

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That's wild.

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It was a game changer.

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So having access to all those choices

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must have been mind blowing.

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It really was.

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It changed the game for shoppers.

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It's like the OG Amazon.

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Like I could almost hear the collective gasp of people

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flipping through those pages for the first time.

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But if the catalog was so revolutionary,

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what eventually led to the rise of physical Sears

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as we know them?

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Well, I think a couple of things happened.

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World War II happened.

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There was a boom in the middle class after World War II.

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People had more money to spend.

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Makes sense.

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And so there was this surge in consumer spending.

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So it's kind of like a pendulum swinging back and forth.

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It's like we love convenience, but then we also

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crave that tangible experience.

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And then we're back to convenience.

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And I think the catalog was great,

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but you couldn't really try things on.

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You couldn't feel the material.

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It was all very two dimensional.

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Totally.

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I'm the same way.

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Like some things I'm fine to buy online, sight unseen.

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But other things, clothing especially,

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I really want to see it in person.

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Try it on, make sure it fits right.

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Right.

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And so department stores really capitalized on that.

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They offered a much more immersive and engaging

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shopping experience.

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Department stores were like, I don't know,

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the original shopping mall in a way.

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Yeah.

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So it was a destination.

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And with those physical stores, the role of the salesperson

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really started to evolve.

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Tell me about that.

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Yeah.

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It's a complete 180 from the catalog era.

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Then it was all about the catalog

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being a silent salesperson.

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What changed?

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Yeah.

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Salespeople in physical stores, they weren't just there

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to ring you up.

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They provided advice and guidance and that personal touch

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you couldn't get from a catalog.

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Right.

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Exactly.

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Someone to answer your questions.

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For sure.

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There's something about that human connection that can really

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make or break the shopping experience.

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Yeah.

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OK.

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Fast forward to today.

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It's like we've swung back in the other direction.

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Yeah.

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Ecommerce is king.

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We're all about instant gratification again.

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We are.

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It's interesting how the digital age has really

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changed things again.

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So where do things stand now?

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Is it online versus offline?

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Or is there a way to bridge these two worlds?

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I think the source material points to a really interesting idea

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here in that it's not one replacing the other,

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but it's really about using the strengths of each.

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So it's less about competition and more about finding ways

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to collaborate, right?

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Exactly.

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Because physical stores offer something

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that e-commerce, no matter how fancy the website gets,

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they can't replicate.

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And what's that?

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That tangible, that human element of it.

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That makes sense.

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I mean, you can read product descriptions online all day long.

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But sometimes you just need that real time interaction

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with a person.

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Absolutely.

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To answer your questions or offer suggestions.

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And that actually brings us to insight,

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which our source material highlights

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as a perfect example of how retailers are bridging this gap.

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So tell me more.

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What exactly is insight and how does it work?

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So insight is basically a training and communication

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platform that's specifically designed for retail associates.

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And it's really to give them, to equip them with the tools

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they need in this digital age.

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So let's say a customer walks in and they're looking at something

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on their phone that they saw online.

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Insight would give that associate all of the information

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they need to be able to help them.

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So it's kind of like giving superpowers

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to those in-store experts.

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Yeah.

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Like product details, reviews, inventory levels,

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so they can provide, again, that really informed service

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to the customer.

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That's incredible.

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It really does seem like we're moving toward a retail landscape

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that blends the best of both worlds.

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You know that convenience of online research,

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but with the personalized guidance of an expert right there

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in the store with you, we've come a long way

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from those early catalogs, haven't we?

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We have.

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And who knows what's next?

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Exactly.

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And that's something to ponder.

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What will the retail landscape look like 10, 20 years from now?

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Will we all be shopping in the metaverse?

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Will we have personal shopper robots?

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Only time will tell.

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But one thing's for sure, the retail world never stands still.

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And we're along for the ride.

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Thanks for diving deep with us today.