That's only part of it. The other part, and arguably a stronger point, is you can research what you want online, order what you want, and have it in a couple days. Back in the day we went to the brick-and-mortar store and bought what they had in stock.
The other option was to order through catalogs. As a cyclist back in the 80s and 90s I was always ordering from Nashbar or Performance because the local bike shops didn't keep what I wanted, the high end gear, on the shelf. If you had them special ordered the part, it would take a lot longer to get and cost $$$ more.
Nowadays, I can also check to see if the local stores have what I want on their website before making the trip to the store. You can even order it and pick it up. Personally, I do try purchase locally.