Good news for physical retailers and builders alike! Headlines are circulating, highlighting the fall of online shopping and the renaissance of brick-and-mortar retail.
Retail Biz reports that Bunnings keeps its crown as Australia’s most trusted brand, online retailers are slipping in trust rankings, eBay is doubling down with live shopping, and Google has just been fined $55 million for anti-competitive conduct.
So what’s actually happening? Consumers are remembering why physical stores matter. Online shopping still may win on price, speed and convenience but trust – the quiet, steady reason customers pick where to shop and invest their brand loyalty – is swinging back to brands with physical presence. Bunnings isn’t just selling drills and sausages, it’s selling reassurance, reliable stock, helpful staff, simple returns and a community experience. In 2026, trust will become the ultimate currency.
A quick sociological detour: why brick-and-mortar is culturally resonating again
After the pandemic and the years following the online retail boom, people are craving tactile experiences, face-to-face human contact, and places that signal authenticity. Researchers and market reports show a few clear patterns: shoppers value sensory experiences and immediacy (why try before you buy matters). They are wary of opaque marketplace practices as trust in platforms dips, people invest that currency in local, familiar brands. McKinsey and other retail think-tanks have documented that omnichannel strategies and experiential stores drive higher customer lifetime value, and regional trust indexes (like Roy Morgan’s rankings) show long-standing physical brands retaining community legitimacy. In short: culture + cognitive comfort = returns to the shop floor.
Google’s greatest downfall
Recently, Google was fined $55 million in Australia for what regulators called anti-competitive ‘pre-installation deals’ – basically paying phone manufacturers to make Google Search the automatic default and quietly shutting out competitors like Bing or DuckDuckGo. This kind of behaviour is considered harmful because it limits real consumer choice, hides alternatives, and funnels people into a digital ecosystem they didn’t actively choose. Practices like this fall under what’s called ‘opaque tech’ – systems that operate behind the scenes in ways most users don’t see or understand, from how apps are pre-loaded to how search results are ranked based on who pays, and even how Google collects and sells user search data to advertisers – all of which further erodes trust. When stories like this break, it reminds people how little transparency they actually have online, and it chips away at trust in purely digital platforms. That’s why many shoppers are gravitating back toward brick-and-mortar stores: they feel more open, grounded and human, with products and service experiences you can actually see, touch and understand – no hidden algorithms required.
Online isn’t dead - it’s evolving (and it’s nervous)
That said, the web is not going quietly. eBay’s new live shopping push is a great example: retailers and marketplaces are trying to replicate the immediacy and personality of in-store shopping through livestreams, auctions, influencer-led shows, and user-generated content such as reviews, ratings, and unboxing videos. Advertising also plays a role in signalling credibility and highlighting trusted products. All of this shows that digital channels are trying to feel more human – but it also exposes their limits. When customers want certainty, they still lean on physical stores. So the smart money is on hybrid experiences that blend the best of both worlds.
What this means for STAARK clients (and why as quality fitout & strategy matters now)
If trust is the new battleground, your store is your trust machine. Here’s how STAARK helps retailers win in this new brick and mortar resurgence:
A trusted brand starts with a quality build, the foundation of smooth customer experience. We cannot stress enough the importance of sturdy shelving, materials chosen to support longevity, strong back-of-house areas, strategic spatial flow, clear pathways, durable service counters, and fixtures that won’t require constant repair. These are the foundations of reliability and professionalism. With over 240 projects completed Australia wide, STAARK delivers builds that are polished and structurally sound. Trust is inbuilt.
Retail trends shift fast - new products, nostalgia resurgence, colour palettes, merchandising styles, and display tech all evolve. The future is also hybrid: click-and-collect, live shopping broadcasts, QR integrations, ship-from-store, and in-store pickups. STAARK uses adaptable construction methods to help clients avoid constant rebuilds, saving money whilst keeping the space future-friendly.
Retailers can’t afford long closures. STAARK’s strength is delivering builds efficiently whilst prioritising safety, always within your timeline minimising revenue loss and protecting the customer relationship. Overnight builds are managed seamlessly with no interruptions to the store’s operational daytime hours. Smooth builds build trust before the store even opens.
The Lesson Here…
As the pendulum takes its timely swing back to the familiarity of a nostalgic model, we also find ways to blend it with the innovation of the modern era. Through this process, we continue to refine and evolve within our industry by maintaining the efficiencies that technology has introduced and simultaneously reintroducing the physical and tangible elements that made retail a real human experience. This is how true brand trust and loyalty is built. We welcome more brick-and-mortar in this next year, its foundations always beginning with a quality build and the right builder.
