Malls Closing:
Online shopping is easily accessible and much more convenient to most consumers than going to malls or department stores. Online retailers such as amazon is currently has one of the biggest consumer base. According to this article, brick-and-mortar or otherwise known as physical retailers will be unable to compete with e-commerce. Predictions are made that 25% of all malls in the United States will close down in the next five years. As stated in the article, the National Retail Federation has reported that holiday shopping will be done online by 59% of all consumers. Just a few years ago, holiday shopping was usually done in store and not just the click of a few buttons. Technology has changed and business models that can adapt and keep up will be able to escape the mall closing epidemic that the “Amazon Effect” has brought.
My Thoughts:
Amazon is the most popular online retailer, so I figured that is how the term the “Amazon Effect” came to be. Online retail is the market where business competition will be headed to. Businesses will have to change their models and adapt to the newer technology and e-commerce that will bring to the table. If businesses continue to rely solely on physical locations and instead of offering product and services online, they will end up like the many malls that are closing due to the lack of consumers because they all are going to do their holiday shopping online.
bnw5126 says
You have written a nice post! This was very interesting to me. I have contemplated this topic for many years now, as I have gradually started to do more online shopping instead of in-person shopping as the years go by. The deals seem to be about the same, especially when “Free Shipping” is included. The only difference between the two is seeing the product in person and trusting that the store will have the product in stock, versus trusting the images and reviews online and knowing that you will get the product shipped to you. Amazon has become very popular because of its user-friendly service, and of course, the two-day free shipping for prime users. This is a perfect solution for patient shoppers who might not have the time to run to the store themselves.