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Why do we even bother to shop at different online stores even though we hardly have to physically move about? Perhaps, it’s convenient for us to just type another web address into the browser’s address bar, but it is not so pleasant for us to have to land on mediocre online store after mediocre online store, right? Time in minutes does worth something so to speak. Also, how can we trust new, mediocre online stores when we have huge online retailers such as Amazon?
Besides the conveniency of visiting online stores and trust factors, what more for us to consider having more online stores would be the way to go? Perhaps, online shoppers are always onlooking for better online deals? Obviously, the Internet is making it unbelievable easier to search for better deals than actually move about from one brick and mortar store after another. Huge online stores such as Amazon makes it even easier, easier for online shoppers to search their stores for great deals of the day, the month, and the year.
Still, the question lingers in my mind is why people even bother to shop at different online stores even though the physical movement isn’t a part of the shopping equation? Usually, the right sight, smell, taste, and touch of various shopping items might lead to an enhance shopping experience. Even the smile from a retail clerk and a conversation with a friend in a retail store might lead to unwise spending but a happy shopping experience nonetheless.
Online shopping is way more private, but it can be done with social elements. I think though, online shoppers prefer shopping in disguise more than announcing what they want to buy to the world. In brick and mortar stores, shoppers will only have to worry how couple friends or family members with them at the time would know what they want to buy from the get go or how unwisely a purchase they make on the spot, but online shoppers can unwisely allow the whole Facebook know what they have done at what online stores. Perhaps, announcing to the whole world (i.e., the Internet) of what you have purchased or shopped for is not as pleasant as just having few people around you in a brick and mortar store know what you have purchased or shopped for, right?
What online stores lack can be covered with providing shoppers with extra unique information and great amount of testimonies. Unique information such as product comparison charts can add more values to online shopping experience than otherwise. Online testimonies such as product rating and comments from other online shoppers can help online shoppers make their decisions on purchasing whatever online. You certainly can’t do something as reading countless product testimonies in brick and mortar stores as easy as online stores, but it can be done. Nonetheless, I don’t see brick and mortar stores have yet installing high tech equipments to allow shoppers to experience something similar to how things go when shopping online. Of course, they can provide mobile apps to allow brick and mortar stores’ shoppers to experience product rating and testimonies, but this might also require brick and mortar stores to garner certain credible online presences for shoppers to use their mobile apps.
Without further nitpicking the differences between brick and mortar stores and online stores and what are the advantages and disadvantages between the two retail universes have, let me make a bold theory on how the future of online stores might become. I think, online stores will eventually consolidate into only few big online stores. Online shoppers do not actually need to venture to different online stores since they can’t really feel that they’re actually sweating from their shopping walkabout of brick and mortar stores. Online stores aren’t for sightseeing, but these stores are for finding the best deals there are. With that in mind, I fear mediocre, mid size online stores won’t have a chance of offering as many great saving deals as how bigger online stores can. I think eventually, only few biggest online stores will stick around, mediocre online stores die out, and unique mom and pop online stores barely survive but survive nonetheless for these might have the ability to offer unique local products that can be found nowhere else.
How about brick and mortar stores of the future? It might be so obvious that only big online stores such as Amazon would be able to have huge and successful brick and mortar presences. My prediction for the future of brick and mortar stores will follow a similar pattern to how I’ve foolishly and boldly predicted the pattern of the future of online stores with a twist. It’s that brick and mortar stores of certain attractive local hangouts and tourist destinations might end up to last with or without the need for a successful online presence. To end my foolish predictions on retail universes, I have only to say that nobody knows the future, but one can instinctively project one’s thinking of the future of something; in this case of mine, it’s about the future of the retail universes. (And I could be dead wrong!)
:) (dixitkumarjain.wordpress.com)
Vinh Nguyen
