- Original Poster
- #1
Been thinking about this a lot lately and curious whether others in retail are wrestling with the same question.
We run a bathroom products business with both a physical high street showroom and an online store. The showroom has been part of the business for years — customers can come in, see products in person, get advice from the team, compare finishes and materials side by side, all that good stuff. It's in Darlington (North East) so not exactly a massive footfall area but we do get decent regular traffic from across the region.
The question I keep coming back to is whether maintaining a physical retail presence still makes commercial sense in 2026, or whether we're just holding onto it for sentimental reasons because "that's how we've always done it."
The case FOR keeping the showroom:
Customers genuinely value seeing bathroom products in person before buying — tiles, panels, glass, sanitaryware all photograph differently than they look in real light
We can offer a level of product knowledge and advice that's difficult to replicate online
It differentiates us from pure-play online competitors who can undercut on price but can't offer the same hands-on service
Older demographic especially still prefers to buy from somewhere they can physically visit
Trade customers (bathroom fitters, small builders) tend to prefer collecting in person rather than waiting for delivery
The case AGAINST:
Rent, rates, utilities, staffing — the overheads are significant and they never go down
Footfall on the high street generally is nowhere near what it was even five years ago
Younger buyers are increasingly comfortable making big purchases online without seeing them first
We could theoretically redirect all the showroom cost into better online marketing, faster delivery, lower prices
The "showrooming" problem — people come in, get advice, measure up, then go home and buy cheaper online elsewhere
I'm not looking for a simple answer because I don't think there is one. But I am genuinely interested in how other people in physical retail — particularly in categories where the product benefits from being seen in person — are thinking about this trade-off.
Are you doubling down on the physical experience as a point of difference? Are you scaling back square footage and going smaller? Have you closed physical entirely and gone online-only? And if you've made one of those moves, are you happy with the decision six months or a year later?
Would genuinely value hearing different perspectives on this, particularly from anyone in home improvement, furniture, or other sectors where the see-it-first-hand factor still matters to at least some of your customer base.
We run a bathroom products business with both a physical high street showroom and an online store. The showroom has been part of the business for years — customers can come in, see products in person, get advice from the team, compare finishes and materials side by side, all that good stuff. It's in Darlington (North East) so not exactly a massive footfall area but we do get decent regular traffic from across the region.
The question I keep coming back to is whether maintaining a physical retail presence still makes commercial sense in 2026, or whether we're just holding onto it for sentimental reasons because "that's how we've always done it."
The case FOR keeping the showroom:
Customers genuinely value seeing bathroom products in person before buying — tiles, panels, glass, sanitaryware all photograph differently than they look in real light
We can offer a level of product knowledge and advice that's difficult to replicate online
It differentiates us from pure-play online competitors who can undercut on price but can't offer the same hands-on service
Older demographic especially still prefers to buy from somewhere they can physically visit
Trade customers (bathroom fitters, small builders) tend to prefer collecting in person rather than waiting for delivery
The case AGAINST:
Rent, rates, utilities, staffing — the overheads are significant and they never go down
Footfall on the high street generally is nowhere near what it was even five years ago
Younger buyers are increasingly comfortable making big purchases online without seeing them first
We could theoretically redirect all the showroom cost into better online marketing, faster delivery, lower prices
The "showrooming" problem — people come in, get advice, measure up, then go home and buy cheaper online elsewhere
I'm not looking for a simple answer because I don't think there is one. But I am genuinely interested in how other people in physical retail — particularly in categories where the product benefits from being seen in person — are thinking about this trade-off.
Are you doubling down on the physical experience as a point of difference? Are you scaling back square footage and going smaller? Have you closed physical entirely and gone online-only? And if you've made one of those moves, are you happy with the decision six months or a year later?
Would genuinely value hearing different perspectives on this, particularly from anyone in home improvement, furniture, or other sectors where the see-it-first-hand factor still matters to at least some of your customer base.
