ECommerce vs Retail: How Brands Are Blending Digital and Physical to Outperform Competitors
Let’s start with a story. In 2023, a regional sporting goods chain in the Pacific Northwest noticed a puzzling trend: Customers were browsing hiking boots online but rarely buying them. Instead, sales of those same boots spiked in-store. Digging deeper, the team discovered shoppers wanted to feel the boots’ tread and try them on rocky demo paths set up in stores.
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The solution? They added an “In-Store Test Drive” button to product pages, allowing customers to reserve boots online and try them on a simulated trail inside the physical location. Sales jumped 34% in three months.
This isn’t just a hybrid strategy—it’s retail Darwinism. Consumers now fluidly switch between online and offline, demanding frictionless transitions. To survive, businesses must merge digital efficiency with human-centric experiences.
Below, we unpack tactical lessons from brands nailing this balance, with a focus on overlooked pitfalls and actionable fixes.
1. Omnichannel ≠ “We Have a Website and a Store”
Many retailers treat omnichannel as a checklist: app, website, physical store. However, true omnichannel retail is about orchestrating these channels to solve customer problems.
Image Source: Americommerce
Duluth Trading Company’s “Find in Store” feature doesn’t just show inventory—it lets shoppers chat with store associates via live video to ask questions like, “Will these pants fit over my winter layers?” Associates can hold items side-by-side for comparison or demonstrate flexibility by squatting in their pants on camera. This “virtual fitting room” reduced returns by 18% and boosted online-to-store traffic by 27% in six months.
The Pitfall of ECommerce vs Retail
Departments working in silos. Example: Marketing launches a 50%-off online sale, but store managers aren’t informed. A customer tries to price-match in-store, gets denied, and leaves frustrated. A 2023 RetailTouchPoints study found 73% of shoppers expect consistent pricing across channels—failure here can cost 30% of potential repeat buyers.
Image Source: Lisagoller
The Fix
Unified commerce training. Outdoor retailer Backcountry hosts monthly “channel collision” workshops where online and store teams role-play customer scenarios. Employees act as shoppers trying to redeem online coupons in-store or return web purchases. After six months, cross-channel complaints dropped 19%, and employee collaboration scores rose 42%.
2. ECommerce Analytics: Stop Chasing Vanity Metrics
Most brands track clicks, bounce rates, and conversion. But what about correlating online behavior with in-store foot traffic?
Bass Pro Shops noticed that customers who watched YouTube fishing tutorials on their site were 3x more likely to attend in-store casting clinics. They began embedding tutorial links in product pages for rods and reels—and saw a 41% rise in clinic sign-ups. One store in Florida even hosted a “Tutorial Tuesday” event where staff recreated video lessons live, driving a 28% uptick in real sales that week.
The Pitfall of ECommerce vs Retail
Overreliance on generic tools like Google Analytics. Example: A home decor brand tracked “time on page” for lamps but missed that 62% of buyers later visited stores to check brightness levels. Without connecting digital intent to physical behavior, brands leave money on the table.
The Fix
Image Source: Venture Harbour
Use heat mapping tools like Hotjar to identify “research-to-touch” patterns. If customers linger on sofa dimensions online, add a “Book a Fabric Swatch Consultation” CTA that drives store visits. Home furnishing brand Arhaus uses this tactic, attributing 15% of in-store appointments to web-initiated requests.
3. Digital Shelf Optimization: The Silent Sales Killer
A mismatched digital shelf erodes trust. Imagine searching for a “waterproof Bluetooth speaker” online, finding one labeled “pool-ready,” and seeing the in-store tag say “splash-resistant.
RTIC, a cooler brand, faced this issue. After standardizing keywords and product specs across platforms—and training store staff to explain discrepancies (e.g., “waterproof” vs. “water-resistant”)—they cut returns by 29%. They also added QR codes in stores linking to a video explaining technical terms, which reduced in-store confusion by 37%.
Pro Tip
Audit your digital shelf for “phantom stock.” One Midwest electronics retailer found that 12% of their website listings showed in-stock items that were actually display models. They added a “Display Unit Available” flag and trained staff to explain, “This is our last display model—order now for a factory-sealed unit delivered tomorrow.” Complaints dropped 50%, and display unit sales rose 21% (as budget shoppers snapped them up).
4. Inventory Alerts: Turn Stock Disasters into Trust Builders
When Scheels, a sporting goods chain, detected a viral TikTok trend on pickleball paddles, they used real-time inventory alerts to:
- Send app notifications to customers who’d browsed paddles: “Only 3 left at your store—reserve now.”
- Redirect online orders to less busy stores using geofencing.
- Trigger a supplier order for 2,000 extra paddles.
Result? Zero stockouts during the craze and a 22% uptick in app downloads.
The Pitfall of ECommerce vs Retail
Static alerts. Example: A toy retailer’s system auto-replied “Out of stock. Check back later!” for a hot holiday item. Shoppers went to Amazon instead.
The Fix
Layer empathy into alerts. Try: “This [product] is flying off shelves! We’re restocking on [date]. Want us to hold one for you? Click here.” Best Buy uses this tactic, reserving items for 24 hours—35% of alerted customers complete the purchase.
5. BOPIS: Stop Treating It Like a “Nice-to-Have”
Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) fails when treated as an add-on. Pet Supplies Plus revamped BOPIS by:
- Giving pickup orders priority over shipping.
- Add a “Surprise & Delight” freebie (e.g., a dog toy) in every order.
- Training staff to say, “While you’re here, want to see our new flea treatments?”
Outcome: 68% of BOPIS customers made unplanned purchases, and the average order value rose by $12.
The Pitfall of ECommerce vs Retail
Slow pickup times. A national bookstore chain lost 12% of BOPIS orders when customers waited over 15 minutes.
The Fix
Test a “BOPIS Lane” with dedicated staff. Farm retailer Tractor Supply Co. uses a drive-thru pickup model—orders are ready in under 5 minutes, and staff hand items through truck windows. This approach reduced labor costs by 18% and earned a 4.9-star pickup experience rating.
6. Human Touch: Why Employees Make or Break Hybrid
Bath & Body Works trains associates to use tablets showing a customer’s online purchase history. If someone buys a vanilla-scented candle online, staff might say, “You’ll love our new vanilla body spray—can I grab you a sample?” This tactic lifted cross-sell rates by 27% and increased app downloads (to track rewards) by 33%.
The Pitfall of ECommerce vs Retail
Underprepared staff. Example: A customer asks, “Is this the blender from your TikTok video?” and the employee replies, “I don’t handle the website.”
The Fix
Cross-train employees. At Ulta Beauty, store associates take monthly e-commerce workshops to learn about online exclusives and social campaigns. After training, 89% of staff could explain how to redeem online coupons in-store, reducing checkout friction.
7. Unified Commerce Tech: Don’t Let Legacy Systems Sink You
A family-owned shoe chain in Texas tried to sync online and in-store loyalty points but couldn’t due to a 1990s-era POS system. After switching to Lightspeed Retail, they:
- Reduced checkout time by 40% (from 7 minutes to 4.2).
- Saw a 33% increase in repeat customers using blended rewards.
The Pitfall of ECommerce vs Retail
Assuming “integration” is a one-time project. One fashion brand’s CRM failed to update in-store returns, causing customers to receive “Come Back!” emails after returning items.
The Fix
Assign a “hybrid systems sheriff” to audit tech weekly. Sweetgreen uses this role to ensure its app’s calorie counters match in-store menu boards. Tools like Square for Restaurants sync online orders with kitchen display screens, cutting dine-in delays by 22%.
8. The Future: Hybrid Retail’s Next Frontier
- AI Store Associates: Macy’s uses ChatGPT-powered kiosks to answer questions like, “Where’s the dress from Taylor Swift’s concert last night?” while pulling up a customer’s online wish list. Early tests show a 40% reduction in “Where’s the bathroom?” queries, freeing staff for complex tasks.
- AR Try-On + In-Store Pickup: Warby Parker’s app lets users virtually try glasses, then book an in-store fitting with their top 3 choices. Stores keep the frames ready, cutting average try-on time from 20 minutes to 7.
- Social Media to Shelf: When a TikTok video on Stanley tumblers went viral, Dick’s Sporting Goods rerouted 30% of its inventory to stores near colleges mentioned in comments. Sales in those locations spiked 55% during finals week.
ECommerce vs Retail Isn’t a Strategy—It’s a Mindset
As retail futurist Doug Stephens notes, “The brands winning today aren’t just connecting channels—they’re erasing them. The customer’s journey is the only map that matters.”
To cut through the noise:
- Be ruthlessly customer-obsessed: Use tools like Hotjar or Medallia to identify pain points. For example, Sephora found shoppers hated typing loyalty numbers at checkout—they added QR code scanning, cutting checkout time by 25%. Tools like 42Signals also help understand ecommerce performance to make relevant changes and improvements in-store.
- Empower employees as storytellers: Equip them with data to explain why an online offer differs from an in-store one. REI staff use tablets to show members how in-store purchases impact their dividend rewards.
- Experiment relentlessly: Test one hybrid tactic per quarter. Lowe’s “Project View” AR tool lets shoppers visualize paint colors at home, then book in-store color consultations.
The retailers thriving in this chaos aren’t the biggest or richest—they’re the most adaptable. As the VP of a 10-store Midwest fashion chain put it: “We stopped worrying about ‘competing with Amazon’ and started asking, ‘What can we do that they can’t?’ Turns out, it’s remembering our regulars’ names and their favorite colors.”If you’re looking for a great ecommerce analytics tool to help learn marketplace performance, sign up for a free trial today.
