The mutually beneficial relationship between online and real world shopping works both ways. Some customers see items in the store and choose to buy them online to take advantage of the shipping options. Whatever the motive, online sales are growing fast. "We're going to do close to a billion dollars in online sales this year and it's growing at 16 percent year-to-date," Lundgren said in an interview with DailyFinance at the company's Herald Square store in New York City on Black Friday.
U.S.consumers are expected to spend $44.7 billion on holiday online shopping this year, an 8 percent increase from 2008, according to Forrester Research.
The increase in online sales has helped Macy's improve its retail business because the company is better in touch with consumer demand, Lundgren said. "This multi-channel shopping is here to stay and it's just going to grow in importance over time."
Lundgren, who has been to over 100 Macy's stores in the last 100 days, said he learns about the business by talking to customers and his best retail workers. "I don't learn sitting in my office what's happening with consumers," he said.
Today, on the much ballyhooed Cyber Monday, many shoppers are sitting at their desks, surfing the Web and buying online. Lundgren said Macy's plan is to give customers "the value that they're looking for."
Anthony Massucci is a senior writer and columnist for DailyFinance. You may follow him on Twitter at hianthony.
