According to Cassar, the benefits of having an online presence include increased sales at the retail location, as well as faster inventory turnover rates and decreased payroll costs. The online shopping experience is not a replacement for shopping at a company's real-world stores, according to William Lauder, president of Clinique Laboratories, a division of Estee Lauder . Marketing via the Web However, Lauder and other executives think that the Internet plays a valuable role in attracting and retaining shoppers to retail stores. Crossing the Channels Cross-selling works both from Web site to store and vice versa, the attendees said. So, if a particular item is out of stock, the salesperson is able to order it for customers online and have it shipped to their home.
Some customers also use the in-store kiosks to purchase large and bulky items for home delivery.
Luechtefield also said the Office Depot catalog is a valuable customer acquisition tool for the retailer's Web site. However, in order for the online channel of a multichannel retailer to be successful, the Web site has to imitate offline shopping in certain aspects. She added that to be sure that dot-com executives stay in touch with the retail experience, they work in an Office Depot outlet once a quarter.