When Burlington Stores announced last week it was ending its e-commerce business because it was inconsistent with its “treasure hunt” physical store model, I just thought I was reading the statement wrong. Yes, online is a challenge for off-pricers but to walk away from what is the fastest growing part of retailing — in essence saying, sorry, we can’t figure out how to make it work — is just downright baffling.
Burlington needs to look at how others with limited inventories are making online work. And it needs to admit that off-price is increasingly about selling in-line regular merchandise, not the fabled opportunity buys of yore.
To me, this is just a Stupid decision. Read more in my Forbes.com post: https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenshoulberg/2020/03/06/burlington-pulls-the-plug-on-e-commerce-can-any-retailer-afford-to-do-that/#7ea5a8ea86c7
WarrensReport 