Brick-and-Mortar Retailers are Doubling Down on Online Sales

It’s not just the DRTV retailers for whom web sales are growing faster than their primary sales channel.  Brick-and-mortar retailers, who for years outsourced their web  sales to fulfillment houses, are placing new emphasis there, the better to compete with Amazon.com.  Macy’s, for example, has invested in new checkout stations that enable clerks to place orders for consumers on the spot, in the event that a desired item is out of stock in a particular store.  The penetration of web sales is generally lower at store retailers, compared to the DRTV networks, but they’re paying closer attention to it.  And it’s growing.  The Los Angeles Times Jun. 18, 2010