Brick and Mortar

Brick and mortar is a term that evolved as online shopping gained prominence to differentiate between a company’s physical store and it’s virtual, online presence. If a customer shops for shoes at Nordstrom, it could mean they visited the company’s web site and purchased shoes online, or they drove to the mall and physically walked into the store — or the brick-and-mortar location. Online-only companies would be classified as having no brick-and-mortar locations. Many retailers compare their own online sales volumes to their brick-and-mortar counterpart.