May 16, 2019 (NEW YORK, NY) – "Many online retailers that started opening brick-and-mortar stores have seen anywhere from a 30 to 40% increase in sales.” So says Rick Scardino, a principal in the Chicago office of Lee & Associates.

He and his Temecula, CA-based colleague, SVP Brian Bielatowicz, are seeing the bricks-to-click trend growing in both regions, and little wonder. A rising amount of online retailers are starting to follow the Amazon model, recognizing that a physical presence is necessary to remain fully competitive in a tough and expensive market.

It’s the internet equivalent of what many traditional retailers are learning through very tough lessons, namely, they need a well-thought-out and all-encompassing omnichannel strategy to survive.

“We’re starting to see that trend pop up more and more,” says Bielatowicz. “Retailers are following the Amazon model, proving they need physical storefronts for people to see and feel their product and have a convenient place to pick up their merchandise.”

But that could be done in a barebones showroom. To keep shoppers coming back, the oft-repeated buzzword is “experience,” or as Scardino terms it, a “wow” factor.