Clicks to Bricks Ready to take your e-tail site to the next level? Get out of the virtual realm and into the brick-and-mortar marketplace for maximum profit.

Most brick-and-mortar retailers recognize the value of having web stores. Meanwhile, most e-tailers have managed to avoid the challenges of real estate management. Until now, that is.

Today, more and more e-tailers are opening up brick-and-mortar stores because they realize the value of offering shoppers multiple and integrated points of shopping access.

Some of the advantages of this model include: strengthening brand-name recognition, giving local customers a physical location to return merchandise or buy items right away without having to pay shipping costs, lowering promotional costs through cross-marketing and cross-merchandising opportunities, and expanding your customer base. In addition, experts say that when shoppers have multiple channels of access to a retailer and its products, they are more likely to be loyal customers.