REI Maps Out its Digital Journey

REI's flagship brick-and-mortar stores in Seattle (its hometown), Denver and SoHo are places to capature the imagination of outdoor enthusiasts, Stritzke said. The company is working to bring the creativity and technology found in those physical stores into its digital properties.

Multichannel for REI is more than just being able to sell to customers in more than one channel; it's about applying what it learns from each channel to offer the same experience in whichever way the consumer chooses to engage with the company. Consider that 75 percent of REI's in-store purchases are preceded by a visit to one of the company's digital properties in the previous seven days. We sell pretty complex products, Brown said, noting that people like to research them online before going to their local store to make a purchase.