Will a Rise in In-Store Shopping Aid Freight’s Recovery? | Transport Topics

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An accelerated transition toward in-store shopping from ordering online is underway and set to aid the nascent freight environment recovery, according to observers.

In-store shopping was already on the rise as the retail sector reset after the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the upcoming holiday season is likely to expedite the trend.

“Brick-and-mortar is not dead, it’s evolving,” said Ryder System Inc. Senior Vice President of E-commerce Jeff Wolpov. “Retail therapy is not dead. People want to interact. Retail is alive and well.”

Ryder recently released its 10th annual e-commerce consumer study, which found that enthusiasm for e-commerce remains robust, but consumer appetite for in-store shopping is growing at a much faster rate than 12 months ago, after the pandemic devastated downtown and retail park foot traffic across America.

In the 2024 results, 61% of survey participants reported shopping in-store because they expressly enjoy the experience, up 21 percentage points compared with the 2023 study figure. Also, 35% said they shop at brick-and-mortar stores to avoid waiting for online orders, a 4-percentage-point year-over-year increase; while 15% said package theft was a reason, up 8 percentage points year over year.

Apparel and beauty shoppers are especially keen to increase their visits to stores, the data shows. Some 54% of survey respondents prefer to buy clothing at brick-and-mortar locations, a 9-percentage-point jump, while 41% of cosmetics buyers prefer to do so at either a brand’s physical retail location or in a department or convenience store, also up 9 percentage points.

Still, apparel headed the e-commerce purchasing categories in the 2024 survey at 82% of respondents. Lagging in second and third place were the vitamins and supplements (54%) and home goods (50%) categories.

“What we’re seeing now is more an evolution into an omnichannel environment,” Wolpov said.

Ryder ranks No. 8 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies in North America, and No. 6 on the TT 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers.

As a result, retailers are stocking up. August truck visits to retailers rose 7.7% year over year, according to Motive Technologies’ Big Box Retail Index, which tracks truck visits to warehouses of the top 50 U.S. retailers.

RELATED: US Economy Grew at a Solid 3% Rate Last Quarter

Several sectors set record highs for warehouse visits, according to fleet management technology supplier Motive.

Trips for department store and apparel retailers jumped 27.1% year over year, Motive noted in its September economic report, while grocery and superstore retailers saw a 14% year-over-year increase, reaching the highest level in the past four years.

Inventory-to-sales ratios, the amount of stock held in relation to sales, are expected to continue to climb as retailers continue restocking ahead of the holiday season, but also as a result of the potential for East and Gulf Coast port strikes, it added.

Brick-and-mortar heavy industries, including apparel, department stores, grocery, and superstores, saw the highest levels of restocking in August and sales at such locations will continue to rise through the rest of 2024, according to Motive.

Throughput at home goods stores is also improving, with Ryder’s Wolpov saying retailers in the sector were a growing segment of the company’s customer base.

“The data bodes well for the trucking industry going into 2025,” Motive Head of Strategic Analytics Hamish Woodrow told Transport Topics Sept. 27. “Momentum is quite positive.”

It is not a false dawn; rather, the data indicates it is an extended trend, he said, unless the majority of retailers’ predictions are wrong.

Woodrow is seeing strength in truckload operations, with small to medium trucking companies benefiting in particular, while less-than-truckload carriers are also expected to see a windfall.

When it comes to freight rates, there’s likely to be some pricing movement as 2024 ends, but there won’t be any massive spikes, Woodrow said.

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