Contrary to common belief for online-native brands, Peak Design's own retail stores have the highest contribution margin. This is because shipping products in bulk freight to stores is cheaper than covering the high last-mile delivery costs for individual e-commerce orders, which often qualify for free shipping.

While Amazon masters digital and Costco dominates physical retail, Walmart is uniquely succeeding by becoming fluent in both. By seamlessly integrating its massive physical footprint with a strong e-commerce and app experience, Walmart has created a powerful 'omnichannel' model that pure-play competitors struggle to replicate, driving its stock to all-time highs.

While most tech giants focus on the digital world of "bits," Amazon's true dominance comes from its mastery of the physical world of "atoms." Its massive, hard-to-replicate logistics infrastructure for moving goods creates a formidable competitive advantage that software-only companies cannot challenge.

For businesses on crowded online platforms like Etsy, a key growth lever is pursuing traditional retail distribution. Attending trade markets and securing sales reps can open up tens of thousands of physical stores, providing a less competitive channel.

When viewed through a holistic lens that includes all in-store sales, digital screens and audio frequently show a higher return than online ads. This is because the vast majority of retail revenue still occurs in the physical store, so by ratio, investments targeting that environment naturally deliver superior performance on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

While inconsistent measurement across retail media networks is a problem, brands shouldn't wait for an industry standard. Instead, they should define their own measurement methodology and bring it to RMN partners. This allows brands to leverage proprietary consumer insights for a competitive advantage, rather than leveling the playing field with a universal standard.

The expectation of one-to-one attribution, conditioned by digital metrics like ROAS, is ill-suited for the complex, "messy" physical store environment. This approach oversimplifies shopper behavior and ignores numerous contributing factors like price, placement, and promotion, leading to flawed analysis.

To avoid being disintermediated by AI agents that could direct consumers elsewhere, retailers can leverage their physical assets. An AI agent will still prioritize retailers with extensive infrastructure and forward-positioned inventory to ensure fast and efficient delivery, creating a competitive moat against pure-play e-commerce.

Jane's strategy avoids direct competition with Amazon by digitizing existing brick-and-mortar retail inventory. This creates an "Amazon-like" online experience for consumers but funnels value back into local economies, a model applicable to groceries, alcohol, and other regulated goods.