I've read more than one report recently that's talked about the decline in on-line retailing, with sales down to 20% in 2006 from 25% in 2004. And now there's word from Jupiter research that on-line retailing will reach only 9% by 2010, which will be less than 1% of all retail sales! Worse hit are health and beauty products, technology products and peripherals and pet supplies. Why is this happening? Some say online shopping simply doesn't offer the same thrill as shopping in the real world. Those people blame the "blandness" of many online shopping hubs and the lack of interaction. Some etailing hubs are fighting lowering sales by offering brick-and-mortar kiosks in popular malls across the US. Even Dell, long the epitome of on-line, direct selling, is now offering product through Wal-Mart. Personally, I think it's because many Americans are shopoholics. Not because they have to have the stuff they go into debt for, but because they just like the "experience" of shopping, and that doesn't happen on-line, even if you're in a virtual shop in a virtual world like SecondLife. Which I've always thought of as a rather pathetic substitute for a real life.
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That's all it takes, baby!
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