What if we all went ECommerce Only?

After yet another bad experience at a bricks and mortar this weekend, I pondered - what would life be like if the percentages were reverse and we did the majority of our purchases online instead of the store?

If you asked that question even a year ago, there would be plenty of naysayers listing every item that's difficult to purchase without seeing the real product. Shoes, perishable items, high end fashion... But today there's plenty of ecommerce going on in these areas, and many others trying to lure your dedication by offering discounts, free shipping and other benefits.

So here are some of my predictions if the trends reversed:

  1. We will all have a lot more free time - 30 minutes to drive to the store + 30 minutes walking around * the number of stores you visit + 30 minutes driving home - adds up to a lot of time you can do something better with...


  2. Collaborative shopping search engines will have to get even better - So you can enjoy 'browsing' an online store - ideally collaboratively. Right now, even basic search for the things you know you need can still be time consuming.

  3. People will consume less - which will scare some people thriving on shopaholics and spenders. But on the flip side, I see people spending more on entertainment, travel and other expenditures to help them enjoy their free time (see point #1).

  4. Specialty stores may rise again - Lets face it, everyone will have their top 1-2 stores that they enjoy and want to visit. For some it may be shoes, jewelry, electronics... For me it will be the grocery so I can see the freshest produce, items with the longest shelf life, etc. But each of these stores will have a harder time maintaining loyal customers. I can see large stores suffering in this scenario (why go to WalMart when I can purchase most of their items from their website), but smart specialty stores winning by stocking intelligently and providing excellent customer service.

  5. Kids will be smarter - Fewer summer jobs at stores and the mall means more of them will have to earn as knowledge workers.

  6. It will dramatically change the landscape of commercial real estate. I'm guessing that some of this space might be converted to small warehouses where consumers can also return/exchange goods. But hopefully some of this space will convert to parks and other recreational areas.
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Well, a bit of 24 hours a fame as I've been honored as the Business Exchange featured user today and am featured on the Business Week home page. Some of my important topics are Agile Software Development and Enterprise 2.0, or you can also check out my Business Exchange profile.



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About Isaac Sacolick

Isaac Sacolick is President of StarCIO, a technology leadership company that guides organizations on building digital transformation core competencies. He is the author of Digital Trailblazer and the Amazon bestseller Driving Digital and speaks about agile planning, devops, data science, product management, and other digital transformation best practices. Sacolick is a recognized top social CIO, a digital transformation influencer, and has over 900 articles published at InfoWorld, CIO.com, his blog Social, Agile, and Transformation, and other sites. You can find him sharing new insights @NYIke on Twitter, his Driving Digital Standup YouTube channel, or during the Coffee with Digital Trailblazers.