Produced by CACI, the research – based on data from a UK-wide survey of 2,500 consumers – found retailers that do not maintain a physical store presence experience 50% lower ecommerce sales compared to those that do within a certain catchment area.

The survey found more than half of all online spend “touched” a physical store at some point during the transaction – be that through click and collect; in-store ordering or “try before you buy”.

CACI said online sales are on average 106% higher for retailers within a physical store’s catchment. The effect was even greater across categories such as electronics (154%), fashion (124%) and sportswear (124%).