For years, the default advice in marketing has been simple – get online, sell online, scale online.
And in plenty of cases, that still makes total sense.
But if you spend enough time watching what real retailers are actually doing, rather than what people assume they should be doing, a more interesting picture starts to emerge. Some high street brands are not doubling down on e-commerce at all. In fact, some are quietly stepping away from it.
At Turtle Media, we find that fascinating.
Not because online does not matter – it absolutely does. But because it is a reminder that good strategy is not about following the crowd. It is about knowing what actually works for your model, your margins and your customers.
What Retailers Like B&M and The Works Show Us
Retailers like B&M and The Works are a good example of that. B&M has long treated having no online channel as part of its operating model, and its own FAQ says it does not offer online ordering for groceries, furniture and houseware products.
The Works took a more mixed route for years, but the direction of travel became clearer over time. In its 2025 strategy, it said it wanted to become the favourite destination for affordable, screen-free activities for the whole family, with a focus on brand fame, customer convenience and operating leanly. Its FY25 results showed that more than 90% of sales were still coming from stores, while store like-for-like sales rose 2.3% and online sales fell 12.1%. The company also highlighted lower variable web costs as one of the factors helping profitability.
Then in March 2026, The Works went further and shut its online sales operation, keeping its website as a non-transactional digital shop window instead. It said the decision followed fulfilment problems and that focusing on its bricks-and-mortar business would reduce risk and support long-term profitable growth.
So why would a retailer do that in a world that seems obsessed with selling everything online?
Because not every retail model suits e-commerce
This is the bit that often gets missed.
E-commerce sounds efficient on paper, but in reality, it can be expensive, operationally messy and margin-draining, especially for value-led retailers. When you are selling lower-priced products, bulky goods, impulse purchases or constantly changing stock lines, the maths gets harder very quickly.
You are not just selling a product. You are funding fulfilment, packaging, returns, customer service, payment processing and delivery expectations that have been shaped by giants with very different margins and infrastructure.
For a business like B&M, that is a big deal. Its model is built around speed, low cost, limited ranges, seasonal flexibility and stores filled with best-selling products at keen prices. In that context, not running a full online channel is not a weakness. It is part of how the economics stay attractive.
Because the store experience is part of the value
Another reason is that physical retail still does something websites often struggle to replicate – it creates discovery.
Anyone who has ever gone into B&M for one thing and come out with six knows exactly what I mean.
The same applies to The Works. A family might pop in for stationery and leave with books, crafts, puzzles and gifts. That sort of browsing behaviour is much easier to encourage in-store than online, especially when the products are affordable and varied.
In other words, the shop floor is not just a place to complete a transaction. It is part of the sales engine.
That matters even more when a retailer’s customer base is already comfortable visiting stores regularly. If over 90% of your sales are coming from physical locations, as The Works reported, it makes sense to ask whether the online shop is actually helping the business, or simply adding cost and complexity.
Because convenience does not always mean home delivery
This is where digital marketing people, ourselves included, need to keep a level head.
We often talk about convenience as if it always means clicking a button and waiting for a parcel. But convenience can mean different things depending on the brand.
For some retailers, convenience means a local branch, easy parking, quick browsing, immediate purchase and no delivery charge. For others, it means a website that helps customers check products, find inspiration or locate the nearest store, rather than necessarily completing the sale online.
That is effectively where The Works has ended up – using its digital presence more as a showroom and signpost than a checkout.
And honestly, that is a useful reminder. Digital does not always have to be transactional to be valuable.
Because profitable growth matters more than fashionable growth
At Turtle Media, we say this a lot in different ways: not all growth is good growth.
Traffic that does not convert is not much use. Social reach that does not lead anywhere is mostly vanity. And online sales that look impressive but eat margin and create operational headaches are not automatically worth chasing either.
The Works’ recent updates are a good example of a retailer choosing profitability and clarity over channel sprawl. In FY25 it was already leaning on stores for the vast majority of sales, while trying to improve margin and reduce costs. By March 2026, management had decided the online sales operation was no longer sustainable in its current form.
That does not mean digital has failed.
It means digital has been reassigned to a different job.
This does not mean online is dead
It is worth saying clearly – this is not an argument against e-commerce.
For many businesses, online sales are essential. For others, they are the biggest opportunity in the room. If you sell high-margin products, have a strong fulfilment setup, or serve customers nationally without relying on store footfall, online can be a brilliant channel.
But what B&M and The Works show is that businesses do not have to force themselves into a model that does not suit them just because it sounds modern.
That is the real lesson here.
Sometimes the smartest move is not building more. It is simplifying.
Sometimes the right digital strategy is not “sell everything online”. It is “use digital to support what already works best”.
What businesses can learn from this
From our point of view at Turtle Media, there are three really useful takeaways here.
First, strategy should follow economics, not trends. If a channel is draining time, cash and focus without delivering the right return, it is fair to question it.
Second, digital should support the business model, not distort it. A website can generate awareness, build trust, drive footfall and strengthen the brand without needing to be a full e-commerce machine.
Third, customers care more about a smooth experience than whether a sale happens online or in-store. If the route feels easy, useful and joined up, most people are happy.
That is why this conversation matters beyond retail. Whether you are a high street chain, a service business or a growing local brand, the same principle applies – build around what actually helps the business grow profitably.
Not just what sounds good in a boardroom.
Final thoughts
So, are B&M and The Works really shunning online shops?
In different ways, yes – but not because they do not understand digital.
Quite the opposite.
They understand their model well enough to know that digital does not always need to mean e-commerce. In some cases, the better move is to let the website support the store, not replace it.
At Turtle Media, we think that is a useful lesson for any business going through a rethink. The best strategy is rarely the noisiest one. It is usually the one that fits the business properly.
And sometimes, that means having the confidence to do less, but do it better.