Toys ‘R’ Us operates 83 stores in Canada, and those stores play a critical role in the retail chain’s digital success in the country.

Tara Conway, director of e-commerce for Toys ‘R’ Us Canada Ltd., says store staff touch 50% of ToysRUs.ca sales. Those touches span from packing boxes to live chatting and taking customer service calls from online customers. “When do stores stop being stores?” Conway asked the audience during her presentation in May at the eTail Canada conference in Toronto. “When we enable them to become more.”

Toys ‘R’ Us Canada, for example, has equipped 50 stores to fulfill online orders from customers in their area. “Having stores that ship locally has helped us with profitability on those orders,” Conway said, emphasizing that shipping is expensive in Canada and a key challenge for e-retailers to overcome. The retailer also recently began giving online shoppers the option to deliver to Penguin Pick-Up locations and InPost lockers. Penguin Pick-Up, owned by SmartCentres IP, has 14 locations in Ontario where consumers can pick up their online orders. InPost Canada Inc. has a network of lockers where consumers can have their online orders delivered and pick them up at their convenience.

Changing the role of stores and employees started three years ago for Toys ‘R’ Us Canada and continues. That has forced a change in the skill set it looks for in potential employees. “There’s been a significant shift in job descriptions and who we are hiring in our stores because we know our e-commerce business is reliant on their success,” Conway says. A consumer shopping ToysRUs.ca, for example, can use the “find a store” option to select a store nearby and connect—via live chat, phone or email—with a personal shopper who will help her select products.

Getting the technology and systems in place that will let Toys ‘R’ Us Canada make additional omnichannel strides is a big challenge. “Legacy really should be a swear word,” she says, referring to the technology systems currently in place. She says consumers’ omnichannel expectations are outpacing the technology available.

Canadian consumers are projected to spend C$34.04 billion (US$25.95 billion at today’s exchange rate) on retail goods online this year, according to eMarketer Inc.

Toys ‘R’ Us Canada is a subsidiary of Toys ‘R’ Us Inc., No. 35 in the Internet Retailer 2016 Top 500 Guide. Toys ‘R’ Us Inc. this month hired Lance Wills to the newly created position of chief technology officer to oversee all aspects of the chain’s information technology and digital operations transformation. Toys ‘R’ Us also hired Phil Newmoyer as chief information officer, overseeing IT in the United States and internationally.