Sears Canada had an automated warehouse for catalog shopping in the late 80's.  They had national fulfillment already in place.  They were poised to be what Amazon is now a couple of decades ahead of time. First they reduced their fulfillment system to deliver to pickup locations rather than direct to customers.  Then, when the internet came to being, rather than investing in getting their catalog and ordering online, they kept orders happening with a call center.   When I saw the internet coming I thought for sure that Sears was going to be the winning company.