On Monday, Forrester Research released a new forecast predicting that e-commerce sales in the U.S. will grow at a 10-percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years. Not surprising, the online retail growth rate is not as substantial as back in the days of e-commerce adaption, but the double-digit estimated growth serves as a wake-up call to any business that has still not implemented an online marketing strategy.

Even more noteworthy is Forrester’s data regarding the cross-channel experience. The research states, “While 82 percent of U.S. online consumers are satisfied with buying experiences that began and ended in a store, satisfaction drops to 61 percent for consumers who began their research online and purchased in a store.”

Forrester draws the lesson that retailers need to do a better job appealing to online consumers in their physical stores. A good lesson, indeed, as we know that many consumers will research online and buy offline. According the 2009 TMPDM/comScore Local Search Usage Study, post-online-search activity results in 37-percent in-store visits and 11-percent online visits.

With these findings in mind, Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst Sucharita Mulpuru emphasized the important of ebusinesses engaging in a multi-channel strategy as a response to consumers’ desire to use both online and offline resources throughout the buying process.

Just in case you needed further proof why a multi-channel approach is crucial to the success of any local search campaign.