Here’s How Patagonia Uses Tech to Drive Consumers into Retail Stores

Though brands and retailers have been talking about omnichannel’s importance for more than a handful of years, many still have yet to master their strategies for juggling e-commerce and physical retail. 

That’s where Locally comes in. 

The company, founded more than 10 years ago by Mike Massey, its CEO, and Ben Hirsch, now its CTO, integrates its technology with brands’ sites to show consumers where they can view or purchase an item in person at a retail store. The participating stores run the gamut, and include mom-and-pop specialty retailers, small chains and massive retailers.

Locally boasts a variety of clients—particularly in the athletic wear and outdoor industries—including Brooks, Crocs, Ugg, Asics, Hoka and Patagonia. For Massey, those names are simply a testament to the power of the physical. 

“[In the industry], we think of online first, but the reality is, most people have an experience that starts with them in physical retail. Then it’s easier to buy that…Patagonia jacket the second time after they know it fits,” he said. 

The technology ingests inventory data from tens of thousands of retailers around the country, then uses that information to show consumers where they can find an item in stock, in person near them. Massey said in 2024, Locally onboarded 25,000 retailers to support its existing clients. 

Among those clients is Patagonia, which uses Locally to offer its customers a stronger sense of choice in their shopping experience. 

Bruce Old, the B Corp’s chief marketplace officer, said the way Locally collects inventory data from participating retailers gives the company confidence that, even if a consumer is directed to a store not owned by Patagonia, they’ll still find what they’ve come to see. 

And though some of the retailers Patagonia works with have more simplistic inventory tracking systems than others, Old said Locally has made sure there’s not an unapproachable upfront technology investment to participate. The company has even accommodated retailers operating off of Excel spreadsheets. 

“You can really go down to the SKU level—all the way down to style, color, size, and making sure that the [retailers] have it in stock. So you’re making sure that they know that, when they go to that store, the item is actually there,” Old told Sourcing Journal.

On the Locally platform, the default is to display retailers by proximity to the consumer. Brands can choose to rank some retailers higher than others, whether because they want to promote small retailers, because they know consumers have strong experiences with a specific retailer or otherwise. Old said Patagonia doesn’t make use of that function; it lets the consumer decide the most convenient option. 

Pushing consumers toward a physical store can help remind them of their loyalty to a brand, and sometimes even drives up the value of a consumer’s purchase, Massey said. When brands begin to pull away from stores, he said, it becomes easier for the consumer to forget about them. 

While some brands have added Amazon sales to their e-commerce strategies, Old said digital retail doesn’t suffice as a substitute for brick-and-mortar stores. 

“Amazon has done a fantastic job of capitalizing on the brand affinity that has been created by local stores. But what we see over and over again is that, when shelf space is lost for a brand…that brand performs much more poorly on every digital channel,” Massey said. “Local stores are really critical for supporting goodwill and customer mindshare.” 

Instead, he said, being able to see, touch and try on an item helps convert consumers at a higher rate than e-commerce typically does. 

“When somebody migrates from an online shopping experience to an in-store near me experience, the conversion rate for that experience skyrockets,” Massey noted. 

Locally data showed that nearly half of online shoppers abandoned their e-commerce carts if pickup from a local store was not offered. 

And while it drives conversions up, Old said it drives a different key metric down: return rates. It also drives down Patagonia’s carbon footprint, even if slightly. That’s because, even if a consumer does return an item, it doesn’t need to be shipped—it’s simply returned in person. 

“From a returns standpoint, we’re not shipping things all over the place. If we’ve got something in the market, regardless of who has it, let’s put that in front of the customer,” he said. “What we see is, when people have the ability to go into a physical store to try things on, our return rates are much, much lower and satisfaction is higher.” 

On the flip side, that means Patagonia doesn’t process as many next-day or two-day shipments. 

For some brands, driving consumers toward general retail can prove tricky because it comes with a side of direct competition. But Old said Patagonia doesn’t mind taking that risk.

“We have a lot of confidence in our product, and so we love being in an environment where we’re able to give the customer a choice of things. The hope is that we’ve put enough care and attention into how we bring our product to life and what we put into it that they’re going to pick ours,” he said.