The advantages of being a multi-channel retailer. This story and this story cover the problems retailers face when harsh weather keeps shoppers away from stores. Although President's Day sales were dissapointing at J.C. Penney, the department store did enjoy stronger Internet and catalog sales.

The challenge for a chain like J.C. Penney, Hicks said, is getting money that isn't spent during a snowstorm back into the stores rather than seeing it frittered away at Starbucks.

Different shoppers have different moods and habits and it's important to have a way to sell merchandise to both the misanthropic insomniac who shops at his computer in his underwear at 2 a.m. and the socialite who hits the mall first thing in the morning, and everything in between. By having an online store and a catalog sales department you can offer your customers the full range of shopping experiences -- and give the obsessive shoppers a chance to spend their money even in the middle of a blizzard.