Want some proof that your business should be selling online? Here are some interesting online retailer stats reported by Internet Retailer:

Third quarter online revenue for New York & Co. increased 82% from the prior year, while in-store sales declined 14%.

In the third quarter of 2008, online sales for Barnes & Noble were up 2% from the same quarter one year ago. Not outstanding, but pretty good considering that in-store sales were down 7.4%.

Pacific Sunwear of California reported a 46% increase in online sales from the previous year.

Do you see the trend? Even though in-store sales are down for many retailers, online sales are strong. If you operate a brick-and-mortar business, are you also doing everything you can to sell online? Are you using paid search to drive targeted local traffic to your web site? Is your web site optimized for specific keywords related to your market? If not, you are leaving money on the table. And if your argument is that you can’t afford it, our argument is: how can you afford not to?