Crumbling Bricks and Mortar

We frequently see stories telling us how well the so-called "bricks and mortar" retailers are (or are not) doing - the retailers with actual stores, where people go to buy things. There's often a distinction between these "real" stores and the virtual, online purchases or direct-mail orders that account for an ever-increasing percentage of the retail trade these days.

Today, MediaPost's Research Brief quotes new figures from the Direct Marketing Association that show 41 percent - better than two in five - retailers do not have a "bricks and mortar" store. They do their business by direct mail, or email, or on the web.

Maybe I'm wrong (wouldn't be the first time), but that says to me that retailers who don't pay a LOT of attention to their online business are going to be in big trouble. And it also says that maybe having a "real" store, as opposed to a virtual one, is becoming less critical to success - though I think we're a long way from closing down the corner store.