Retail reinvention is an ongoing process which is not so simple. Brick and mortar B&M refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in one or more buildings or other structure. The term brick-and-mortar business is often used to refer to a company that possesses buildings; often including retail stores, production facilities, or warehouses for its operations.  In contrast to brick-and-mortar, online shops have no physical presence for shoppers, such online businesses normally have non-public physical facilities from which they either run business operations.

Bricks and clicks is a term for a business model by which a company integrates both offline (bricks) which means shops and stores plus online (clicks) presences. Additionally sometimes retailers add a few extra flips added such as catalogue, telephone ordering and mobile phone apps and telephone sales support. The initiation of mobile web has made businesses operating bricks and clicks businesses very popular, because it means customers can do tasks like shopping when they have spare time and do not have to be at a computer. Most of the bricks and clicks customers like to use mobile shopping sites. A common example of the bricks and clicks model is when a chain of stores allows the customer to order products both online and physically in one of their stores, also allowing them to either pick-up their order directly at a local branch of the store or get it delivered to their home.

The bricks and clicks model has typically been used by traditional retailers who have extensive logistics and supply chains, but are well known and often respected for their traditional physical presence. And, they are famous because it is far easier for a traditional retailer to establish an online presence than it is for a start-up company. It takes years of presence for a retailer to establish a traditional presence, including a strong and well recognized brands, without having a large marketing budget. It can also be said that adoption of a bricks and clicks model where a customer can return items to one of the stores of the organization can reduce costs to a business such as shipping for undelivered and returned items.

PC world is an example of Bricks and Clicks which has both offline and online presence. It provides a range of electronic products but focuses on computers. It is very popular and has numerous stores worldwide. It provides an online e-business system for its customers and clients; to purchase the products online, the customers need to create an account on the stores website. This assists the store in keeping a record and allows the company to keep track of the purchases and payment being made. The financial transactions over the website consists data on the customer as they have proof of the card holders identity which helps them to assist customers in managing any fraudulent transactions. The customers also can make purchases in person with cash at the stores and have repair services or exchanges done to products purchased online.

Advantages: bricks and clicks is beneficial to various segments. For example, supermarkets often have different customer types requiring alternative shopping options; one group may wish to see the goods directly before purchase and like the expediency of quickly shopping, while another group may require a different convenience of shopping online and getting the order delivered when it suits them. Thus, having a bricks and clicks model means both customer groups are satisfied.

Disadvantages: A major factor of concern of this business model is cost controlling, as usually maintaining a physical presence and online presence. Also, online shopping makes price comparison easier for customers, this encourages a ‘race-to-the-bottom’, where retailers only compete on price, with quality and service deteriorating as a result. This is especially dominant because online shopping allow prices to be compared without even visiting a retailer’s website.

The prices listed online many times does not match the prices listed offline. The reasons for this include mismanagement, and managing overhead cost due to the logistic difference between an online purchase and an offline purchase. An online purchase sometimes results in confusion and deviations of expectations for the buyers. Many retailers shy away from this model because It has been observed that a bricks and clicks business model is quite difficult to implement.

Legalities: This model allows customers to purchase goods or services remotely, hence it is legislated in many jurisdictions which grant more rights to consumers. In the UK, for example, any goods purchased online of a bricks and clicks business allows the buyer protection under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 Act, which allows the consumer to return a product or cancel a service within 14 days of purchase for a full refund. Similar rights are awarded in EU countries. In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission legislate allows consumers 3 days to return items ordered over web if they are not satisfied. A British clothing retailer named ‘Next’ was fined for demanding return postage cost from one of their customers.

Channel conflicts: Many Bricks and Clicks retailers have experienced conflicts with their marketing channels, especially with their offline retailers and agents, for example, Compaq feared that its retailers would drop its line of computers If Compaq offered to sell the same computer directly online. Merrill lynch hesitated to introduce online stock trading to compete with ET-Trade, Schwab, and other online brokerages fearing that its own brokers would rebel. Barnes & Noble which is the largest book retailer delayed opening an online site which they did with lot of thinking for giving fight to Amazon. The reason these companies struggled opening on-line sites is the question of how to conduct online sales without cannibalizing their own stores, resellers, franchises, stockiest and agents.

Conclusion: Many companies such as British retailer John Lewis has found success in adopting a bricks and clicks business model, with the online ordering service beating brick and mortar sales. Online auction website eBay has also launched a scheme in cooperation with catalogue shop Argos that allows goods sold by third parties to be collected in a brick-and-mortar location, which allows the customer to collect goods at their convenience rather than wait at home for a delivery company. On the other hand, HMV music retailer went into losses in 2013, despite having operated both brick-and-mortar stores and an online presence. It went into losses due to high overheads of operating the brick-and-mortar side of the business making HMV unable to compete with pure-clicks retailers such as Amazon.com.

Paying for many physical store premises and their staffing requires larger capital expenditure which online only businesses do not usually have. On the other hand, a business selling more luxurious, often expensive, or occasionally purchased products like cars are more common with a physical presence, due to physical attributes being more considered while making the purchasing decision. But, car manufacturers such as Dacia have introduced online configurators that allow a customer to configure and order complete cars online. They visit a dealer only to collect the completed car, and friends this has proven popular with customers.

As per dictionary, definition of the word beauty is the quality present in a person or thing that gives intense aesthetic pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind or the senses. Beauty is a quality, trait, attribute of a person, animal, place (destination), object or an idea of a person that provides perceptual experience of happiness or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics in sociology, social psychology and culture. An “ideal beauty” is presented in form of perfection.

The understanding of beauty often engages an interpretation of some entity as being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional well-being. Because this can be a subjective experience, it is often said that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. There is evidence that perceptions of beauty is evolutionarily defined firmly as all those things, aspects of people and landscapes considered beautiful are classically found in situations likely to give enhanced survival of the perceiving human’s genes. We find somebody or a place, a piece of art beautiful in a frame of mind and situation. What today we find beautiful need not appear beautiful a month later.  It’s the mind’s perception and observation is a mood and disposition.

A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on the physical beauty of its contestants. Although, such contests have evolved features such as personality, intelligence, talent, and presence of mind to answer the judges’ questions as judged criteria. These criteria are sometimes uncanny, but are based on varied contexts known to judges alone. Beauty pageants are also held for men, children, animals called by other names.  The pageants try to depict an unattainable perfect image that is illusionary most of the times.

Winners of beauty contests are remembered for some time; they grow older and are forgotten. In my opinion when comparison of beauty and brain comes to last faze we all go with character because beauty stays for a period of time but character stands till we die. In the gracious sense we follow those persons who have a character. For example world follows M.K. Gandhi, Einstein, Lokmanya Tilak or Nelson Madela not for his looks, but for their character because character is a source to identify the qualities of a person. These men were not well built, muscular or broad shouldered handsome guys. They had brains not brawns to show off. As we know “face is the index of mind”, our beauty deeply depends on our thinking, behaviour, character, etc these are the works of our brain. What the command given by our brain is done through our body. So according to me, both beauty and brain go hand in hand.

Why is the world obsessed so much with beauty? Appearances are so deceptive. But, most men and women try to look beautiful /handsome. Men and women try to copy actors and actresses. So much money is spent on camouflaging original looks; people are ready to go under knives of plastic surgeons just to change their originality. If somebody is labeled as ‘beautiful’ ‘handsome’ or ’cute’ is close to the mirror out of ‘vanity’, but out of insecurity. We forget that there are drawbacks to being attractive. As they are under much greater pressure to maintain their appearance. Also, studies show that attractive people don’t benefit from the ‘bias for beauty’ in terms of self-esteem. They often don’t trust praise of their work or talents, believing positive evaluations to be influenced by their appearance.

Beauty and brain insolently go hand in hand in the sense that all intelligent people seem beautiful once we get to know them closely. And that is pleasant experience. One should be beautiful by brain i.e., beauty by thoughts not by physical beauty. I wish to quote here example of APJ Abdul Kalam. He is not handsome literally; but when you hear him, he is the most handsome man! Mother Teresa became the most beautiful woman because of her compassionate qualities.

“Looking for a slim, homely and fair girl for our son” – that is usually how most matrimonial ads read, the stress being on the word “fair” and “slim”. Many say it is proof of our obsession with a person’s skin colour. The cosmetic industry is growing in leaps and bounds because of our obsession with looks, colour and shape.

So with or without beauty success can be achieved or not is not an issue. If a person has talent then he can achieve his goals.

I think the Indian cinema – Bollywood grew with some intelligent actresses like Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi and Dipti Naval. Also some offbeat actors not very handsome in appeal but very intelligent guys like Nasiruddin Shah, Sanjiv Kumar and Faroqu Shaikh. They portrayed very complex characters on screen and off screen too they are/were intelligent, well read and gifted people. These and many other simple looking men and women have given some most astonishing masterpieces to the cinema world.

I am amazed with Smita Patil’s looks. Her half smile, her sense of wanting to belong, her wariness and her lack of pretence made her the most beautiful woman. The actor zapped thousands of her admirers even today with the awesome shades in her portrayals as Uma in Bhumika or Sulabha in Umbartha, her poignancy in Bazaar and the turbulence of Sonbai in Mirch Masala. Smita looks the gorgeous, sexy adivasi woman in Jait Re Jait.  In her movies, she beautifully blended her sensitive outer frailty with an inner strength to create an experience that would always be unforgettable for movie-goers. Her dusky complexion had many admirers as the country was beginning to break the stereotypical notions of beauty, and Smita Patil was the perfect example of an Indian beauty.

Can beauty be defined by age, gender, color, body shape or size? Who gets to decide? Multibillion-dollar beauty and fashion industries both shape and depend on the cult-like worship of what physical attributes the public sees as beautiful. And most men and women feel the effects of those decisions.

It is much easier and safer to be your original self. It does not cost, it does not hurt. All those humans are beautiful with the ability to laugh; there are so many funny things happening around. Life is funny and entertaining. Beautiful people are imaginative. Our human awareness, which also gives us the capacity for abstract thought, is our greatest gift, and yet so few of us ever fully use this trait. Beautiful people are spiritual; a belief and faith in something bigger than our existence is significant to living. Beautiful people are rebellious – ready to experiment with new thoughts and new approaches.

Human beings are able to perceive beauty in the way that one may perceive the perfection of the universe. If you consider perfection of universe, we are beautiful because we are a part of it, though we are also capable of creating and experiencing beauty in millions of different forms. Beautiful people don’t really fit in cultural norms; they are different and they are unique.

We cannot limit our lives. The world is an amazing yet unusually a creepy place. This world is flawed to a great extent. No institution can be trusted. Anything is possible, we all can be happy and fulfilled if we have the guts to be truly free and have the wisdom to shrink our egos and quit taking ourselves so damn seriously.