Dive Summary:
- New e-commerce practices, in-store technology, and smartphone applications are causing traditional retailers to completely rethink how they are set up.
- While brick and mortar stores struggled to meet holiday goals, e-commerce grew steadily, laying the platform for e-commerce to replace physical retail spaces in some areas.
- Smartphones and tablet applications are also driving physical retailers to be more competitive than ever by allowing consumers to use their networks and devices for advice and comparison shopping.
From the article:
"...Just as predicted, the ease and comfort that online shopping affords us is in many ways besting the traditional in-person shopping experience. Case in point: though many traditional retailers struggled this winter, Amazon sold 306 items per second on Cyber Monday (27 million purchases in total), setting a new record.
In general, the online retail market has grown steadily: It is now valued at $226 billion, and is estimated to rise to $327 billion by 2016 — a 45 percent increase..."
