Are Storefronts Going to Vanish Completely?
photo: original by Dave Croker on wikimedia commons
I've seen more and more brick and mortar stores shutting down. Big companies too; Sports Authority, GameStop, Toys R Us... Granted they haven't gone away completely, but for them to be shutting down some of their storefronts got me thinking. Is the present/future of retail going to be all eCommerce and warehouses?
I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I do most of my retail shopping online. Clothes, video games, phone accessories, you name it-- if I don't have to go to a store for it, I won't. Getting them online tends to be cheaper unless the storefront is liquidating or it's Black Friday or something. The only real drawback is that you have to wait a few days to get it. Other than that, I don't see why you wouldn't buy things online. The savings that the eCommerce gets by not having to pay rent on a brick and mortar location gets (somewhat) passed on to the consumer. It's win win.
I know some people like to see and touch the product, like trying on clothes for example, but online shopping has gotten to the point where as long as you know your size, they're able to tell you if things run big, small, or true to fit. And with user reviews on Amazon and YouTube, you're pretty much able to find out everything you need to know about a product before buying it. And if something's wrong, just return or exchange it.
Soon it'll become even easier with VR and 3D printing. When these get to a point where they're commonplace and accessible to most everyone, it'll eliminate the need for storefronts even further. Say you wanted to see a cell phone up close. Well, you could go visit the company's virtual showroom. If you want to hold a sample in your hands, you could have a replica printed out. Granted it might not be true to weight but as 3D printing progresses, I'm sure it'll get to a point where you can recreate that too. Eventually it may even become a situation where we have replicators like on Star Trek. Anything that the replicator has on file, it can generate, which means you wouldn't even have to wait anymore.
That then opens the discussion up to restaurants. Wouldn't they become eCommerce stores themselves? Think about it, their dishes are their product, so you could just go to their online menu, order what you want, and it'd be replicated right there in your home. I don't know that restaurants would go away completely because of the social aspect, but I could definitely see a society where they're replaced by social clubs, where you can eat and drink (replicating whatever you want) and be around people-- basically a public gathering place for the sake of social interaction (And even social interaction may change with VR).
I don't think a world without physical storefronts would be a bad thing and I don't see why it won't happen. It would change business in the sense that suppliers may just become retailers themselves. There wouldn't really be a need for middlemen as the internet pretty much closes all connection gaps to the consumer. As I said, this system could allow for lower pricing because getting things direct from the supplier eliminates middleman mark-up. Of course the supplier could just mark it up the same and keep the profit difference, but for a little while it could mean savings for the consumer.
Let me know what you think. Are you an eCommerce nut like I am or do you prefer going to the store and seeing/interacting with the product before buying it?
