When it comes to shopping, it's apparent now that the consumer does not recognize any lines of demarcation at all. Shopping is all one thing to them now, no matter where it happens. The faster retailers can recognize and accept that premise, the better—and more profitable—they will become.

Matt Powell, a senior sports industry advisor for the research firm NPD, commenting in the firm’s recent news release, “A Strong But Changed Retail Industry Looks to the Future.”