It used to be said that the high street and traditional retail was doomed and that bricks and mortar retailing would be replaced by the online experience, leaving shops bare and high streets deserted as we all sat hunched round our computers at home or work shopping online instead.

But tomorrow’s opening of EBay’s Christmas pop up shop in London’s Dean Street marks perhaps one of the most poignant examples yet of how clicks retailing still needs the bricks experience to really complete the offer.

The EBay Christmas shop will feature high tech shopping in that shoppers will scan QR codes to buy rather than queue, gifts in hand, at the tills. But the move shows that despite the convenience and ease of online shopping – particularly in the Christmas crush – there is still much to be gained from the fuller experience of touchy feely store retailing.

While viewing products online may be simpler the opportunity to feel and fall in love with them is why previously online only retailers such as Ebay are continually moving to join their bricks and mortars peers with their own physical stores. Store retailing not only offers the instant gratification of instant purchase but the opportunity for retailers whose otherwise main battleground is price to offer a richer store experience that combines great store design with exceptional customer service that will ensure their customers are continually coming back for more.

The EBay store will be an interesting first with goods scattered around in a home like setting for shoppers to browse with The Grotto for the family, a handbag laden Boudoir for the girls and a gadget heavy The Den for the boys. The store will sell 350 lines including clothing, electronics, toys, gifts and stocking fillers in the five days it is open.

For EBay the launch is more an advertising gimmick than a serious intention to roll out a chain of stores nationwide but it remains a fascinating reminder that we, as humans, are inherently social animals and while there are those of us for whom shopping is a chore to be done as quickly and painlessly as possible for the rest of us shopping is an art in itself — and stores are the gallery in which to admire our wares.