The pandemic has accelerated disruption in retail and shifting spending even faster to online. Paradoxically, it has also underscored the importance of the physical store. In short, consumers more than ever want multichannel shopping options. Their perfect experience is a mix of physical stores, online stores, mobile commerce and social commerce, according to a new report by CBRE.

What may be invisible to the consumer, though, is the changing role of the physical store from  the back end, namely also serving distribution or last-mile fulfillment needs for online sales.

CBRE refers to this as the hybrid store, and forecasts that it will be a model for the future of retail. The hybrid store will both provide an in-store retail experience while also providing support for online sales. "Although not every store in a retailer's portfolio will be a hybrid, it is evident that retailers will need to strategically determine how many and which stores should be converted to a hybrid model," John Morris, leader of industrial logistics and retail for the Americas, said in the report.