Looking for a good reason to improve the design of your retail store? Here’s a good one: Online purchases are slowing as consumers return to shopping in the bricks-and-mortar world.

A Harvard Business School professor paraphrased in this New York Times article really hit the nail on the head for me: “…as physical stores have made the in-person buying experience more pleasurable, online stores have continued to give shoppers a blasé experience. In addition, online shopping, because it involves a computer, feels like work.”

The research cited in the article confirms what I’ve been thinking for a while. Shopping online is great for some things, not so great for others.

For example, booking travel reservations online is so easy now that many people like me don’t go into travel agencies anymore. But if an agency’s website advertises travel accessories like passport holders, luggage straps and guidebooks, I’m more likely to stop in. That’s when well-trained staff could snag me into an unadvertised cruise or other promotion.

I also like Borders Books and Circuit City, where I can order online and come into the store to pick up my purchases. And when I get there, I often find interesting products I hadn’t noticed online.

But enough about me. What the article should tell you is that even though online shopping isn’t going away, consumers still want to shop in retail stores. It’s your job to draw them in and keep them in through great store design.

Need some help figuring out how to start to upgrading your store? Glad you asked. Just click here to get the ball rolling.

The fact that Dell just started selling PCs in Wal-Marts verifies to me that the demise of retail is greatly exaggerated. “Some customers like a more interactive experience,” a Dell senior VP says in the article. “They like shopping, and they want to go retail.”