The buyer’s decision-making process has changed dramatically in recent years. Buyers are conducting extensive research online before ever speaking to a sales person. Buyers are also making more direct purchases online and via their smartphone, never stepping foot into traditional brick-and-mortar locations.

According to eMarketer, ecommerce sales rose 16.4% in 2013 over the previous year to 262.3 billion dollars and is estimated to climb to 440 billion dollars by 2017. However, the percentage of online sales to all retail sales is still relatively small. Consider this: only 11% of Macy’s sales are online. But, that meager 11% represents 3.1 billion dollars per year.