Dive Brief:

• Columbus, Ohio footwear retailer DSW will invest $10 million on e-commerce, fulfillment, and new physical stores to allow customers to find any shoes or boots they want there, and not at zappos.com or other competitors.

• Over the next three years, the chain will expand its physical footprint by 100 stores, adding to the 400 it already runs.

• The company said its 2014 would fail to meet expectations but that by 2015 this strategy will pay off.

Dive Insight:

With these plans, DSW is on its way to creating exactly the kind of shopping experience consumers are looking for: The ability to get the products they want even if it’s not physically in the store. DSW is opening up its supply chain so fulfillment can be made through any channel. It’s clear that the company sees physical stores as an important part of its strategy, but it is integrating its e-commerce capabilities with that. This is one place where, even with its free-shipping-both-ways policy, Zappos is still at a disadvantage. Many agree that it’s still really fun to go to the store and try on footwear — after all, those boots are made for walking.