Brick and mortar refers to a physical business location—a store, office, or building with actual walls and a roof. The term emerged in the internet era as a way to distinguish traditional retail from e-commerce. A brick-and-mortar store is where you can touch the merchandise, talk to a human, and leave with a bag in your hand. It is the opposite of a website, an app, or a warehouse that ships to your door. But in the 2020s, the distinction is collapsing: most brick-and-mortar stores also sell online, and most online retailers are desperate to open physical spaces.
Definition
Brick and mortar is a term used to describe a physical retail or business location, as opposed to an online or virtual presence. The phrase refers to the literal building materials—bricks and mortar—that form the structure of a traditional store. It is used in business, real estate, and retail to distinguish physical establishments from digital ones.
Why It Matters
Brick and mortar matters because it is the site of one of the great economic shifts of the 21st century. The rise of Amazon and e-commerce was supposed to kill physical retail. Instead, it transformed it. Stores became showrooms, pick-up locations, and brand experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the trend, pushing some retailers to bankruptcy and others to innovate. Today, the most successful retailers are those that blend brick and mortar with digital: buy online, pick up in store; try in store, buy online; return in store what you bought online. The wall between physical and digital has fallen.
Example
A customer browses shoes on a website, adds a pair to their cart, but hesitates to buy. They visit the physical store, try the shoes on, and purchase them there. Later, they reorder the same shoes online. The brick-and-mortar store was not a separate channel; it was part of the same journey.
Internet Angle
Online, brick and mortar is discussed in business forums, investment circles, and urban planning debates. The death of retail is a perennial topic, but so is the resurgence of main streets and local shopping. The internet also created the conditions for brick-and-mortar’s survival: social media drives foot traffic, influencers turn stores into destinations, and TikTok videos of unboxing in-store become marketing. The irony is that the internet, which was supposed to destroy physical retail, has become its most powerful ally.
Related Terms
- E-commerce — the online counterpart to brick-and-mortar retail
- Omnichannel — the strategy of integrating physical and digital sales
- Retail apocalypse — the wave of store closures driven by online competition
- Pop-up shop — a temporary brick-and-mortar location, often for online brands
- Last mile — the final step of delivery, which brick-and-mortar can solve via pick-up
- Customer experience — the reason physical stores still exist
- Death of the high street — the British term for the decline of traditional retail areas