I was reading a blog by Paul Allen with regards to online retail growth. The part of his post with regards to the connection between offline and online sales was of particular interest as it supported my previous post relating to women's changing shopping habits at Brent Cross shopping centre in London. Paul refers to shop.org's ninth annual ecommerce study which stated:

Integration between online and offline activity is key for retailers who report 22 percent of offline sales are influenced by the Web. Retail Web sites are also a viable channel to reach new customers; 38 percent of online customers are first-time buyers.

The study finds the Internet can serve as a means of window shopping. Consumers compare prices; find gift ideas and research products. Some of the resulting sales are transacted offline. To integrate the experience online and offline, 79 percent of retailers have instituted consistent pricing across channels, and 46 percent allow for customers to buy and redeem gift cards on the Web site as well as at brick-and-mortar locations. Thirty-three percent of retailers have loyalty programs to retain customers and 26 percent offer in-store product availability information online.

Retailers that are not investing in their online activities are failing to address an increasingly large portion of the market, so if you are a retailer and you are not prepared to invest online I would suggest investing some time polishing up your CV instead.