Multichannel Stocks: OMG

On March 16, 2007, I started tracking a set of online/catalog brands, comparing stock performance against the fabled "bricks and clicks" brands that the punditocracy told us we had to be like.

The online/catalog brands included Amazon, Blue Nile, CDW, Dell, Drugstore.com, eBay, Overstock.com, and PC Connection.

The retailers included Best Buy, Cabelas, Circuit City, Coldwater Creek, Eddie Bauer, J. Crew, J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, Office Depot, Office Max, Talbots, and Williams Sonoma.

Since 3/16/2007, online/catalog stocks in my list are down 53%.

Since 3/16/2007, retail stocks in my list are down 87%.

Now granted, the stock price of a company is not always correlated with the operating performance of a company.

I'd simply ask you to question the best practice advice of the marketing punditocracy. Research, measure, ask questions, and develop your own point of view. Bricks and Clicks is not benefiting many multichannel retailers at this time.