The New World of Shopping
Take a stroll down virtual main street. It’s a fairly new street as streets go, but the stroll is one that is pretty amazing and full of surprises. “Look over there! There’s Amazon and eBay. And over there! There’s Mrs. Smith’s handbags that she designed herself. Over there is where you can get Mitsubishi Parts or Hyundai Parts. We’re just coming up on merchandise from India and Thailand. This street is wonderful and look; it goes on forever. There’s our neighbors Paul and Linda and look across the street there’s Joe from the restaurant, seems like everyone is here. Wow! Look at that guy, his cart is full.”
That’s just how the internet main street might look if you could physically take that stroll. The web adds more online stores every day. It doesn’t take much. You don’t need any brick or mortar. You just need a dotcom, a simple website that can process payments and you are in business and have the world as you customers. That’s why online retail sales are exploding around the world. Right now they are about 8-10% of all retail sales and growing. The web has influenced more retail sales than traditional advertising ever has. You can call this a consumer driven market that impacts industries around the world.
From shoes to books to consumer electronics to health food your stroll down the web main street will allow you to find everything. You can easily compare prices on your mobile device or laptop or you can merely browse through the online stores and find things you didn’t even know existed. You can do all this and you never leave the comfort of your couch.
The landscape of the retail world has changed. Brick and Mortar stores are downsizing and entering the world of online marketing of their products. They can reach their targets easier and do so 24 Hrs. a day. They can try out new product lines and not risk a fortune. They can really have their finger on the pulse of the world and better control their inventory when they know the preferences of their customers.
This is why we will see an explosion of brick and mortar brands entering the marketplace in the next few years. Around the world from Asia to Europe the online populations are expanding and the numbers for online retail sales is growing fast. The next Amazon or eBay may be lurking out there and the social networks are getting in the act too. It seems the sky is the limit and technology makes it so.
Each time you take that stroll down the virtual main street we call the web you run into something new. Each time you buy something and fill your cart you are contributing to the growth of a huge worldwide market that shows no signs of slowing down. That stroll is a pleasant experience and you feel safer than you ever did and it makes you want to come back.
