The future of shopping

Darrel Rigby's provoking article "The Future of Shopping" (in the December 2011 issue of the HBR) posits that retail is about to undergo a technology-driven transformation.  Rigby calls retail "an industry stuck in analog."  The current state for traditional retailers is a bricks and mortar and a competing e-commerce operation.  Rarely do the two operate synergisticly. and often the two operations overtly compete.  In the not-too-distant future, the retailers who successfully meld B&M, on-line, and other retail technology will dominate.

The article inspired me to consider retailers I frequent that have consistency in pricing and promotions on-line and in-stores.  Retailers that focus on big-ticket, less impulsive, less promotional items items (Room & Board furniture, Tiffany) offer consistent pricing in-store and on-line.  I can think of instances in which J. Crew, Banana Republic, Gap, LL Bean, Barnes & Noble, Target, Williams Sonoma had different on-line and in-store promotions.  At one end of the spectrum, Williams Sonoma occasionally offers discounts on-line that aren't available in stores.  At the other end, Barnes & Noble has a completely separate pricing model for the exact same merchandise to compete with Amazon on-line.

Price transparency has improved exponentially with smart phones.  Retailers complain about showrooming, customers examining a product in a B&M store before buying it more cheaply on-line.  Have you used smart-phone technology to negotiate a better price from a B&M merchant?  What retailers do you think are positioned to compete?