Go talk to some folk in retail - they'll disagree ;-)

Conversion funnels. Split testing. All happened in retail long before all this new fangled on-line nonsense. In fact retail optimisation is fascinating stuff. It's a few years old now but 'Why We Buy: The Science Of Shopping' by Paco Underhill is a great read.

If you ever get the chance to chat to folk who do data mining for store chains do so. They have fascinating tales to tell.