Now those older physical-world companies are engaged in a celebratory strut. Looking to parlay those benefits, Menlo Park, Calif.-based Etrade is partnering with Target. Following a single-store pilot in which Target replaced its banking cubicle with an Etrade site staffed by an Etrade employee to answer questions, Target is now rolling out 20 more sites. Storch said the Atlanta pilot was extremely successful, and many Target customers signed up for Etrade accounts. The pilot showed that Target customers were excited about the concept of physical access to a virtual site, Storch said.
Consumers prefer a multichannel experience, analysts say.
We'll see more of this kind of partnering driven by that.