Dive Brief:

• Macy's, J.C. Penney and Nordstrom held the top three spots for general apparel in average monthly traffic from July 2017 to June 2018, according to a recent SimilarWeb Retail Trend report emailed to Retail Dive.

• Digitally native brands Zulily, Zappos and Poshmark followed closely behind in the fourth through sixth spots among stores with the top web traffic. The report also found Poshmark's traffic increased more than 55% of its traffic coming directly, supported by organic search and some paid search.

• Beauty retailers, like other stores, have faced some challenges as well, but some have been able to make strides. Sephora, Ulta and L Brands-owned Bath and Body Works earned the top three spots for beauty in average monthly traffic measured during the same period.

Dive Insight:

It's no secret that brick-and-mortar stores have been falling out of fashion with consumers. Multiple retailers had announced more store closings earlier this year, including J.C. Penney, which earned the No. 2 spot on SimilarWeb's list for top general apparel websites. The department store announced in March it would close nine home and furniture stores this fall, which comes in addition to the 18 stores it previously announced would shutter.

But even though in-store sales have slumped, consumers continue to want brick-and-mortar experiences, so retailers have to step their game up to get them in the door. The decline in physical stores will make it difficult for product companies to manage and enhance the in-store customer experience, the SimilarWeb's report notes.

In the meantime, retailers need to improve their omnichannel marketing efforts, and as the report indicates, connecting with customers offline will be increasingly important. Uniqlo, a clothing brand which doesn't get a lot of organic traffic, has received 12% of its traffic from social media, particularly Reddit. More than 65% of the brand's social media traffic came from a subreddit called "frugalmalefashion," according to the report.