Ecommerce Matures

In 2009 retail sales, excluding food and motor vehicles, totaled $3.6 trillion.  While everyone focuses on the dramatic gains in online retail, or e-commerce, which soared from $42 billion in annual sales in 2002 to $197 billion in 2011, the reality is that even with its soaring growth, e-commerce is still a mere pittance of total consumer retail spending.

When you realize that Amazon, the Walmart of the internet, makes up a third of all online retail, then the stark reality of the potential of e-commerce is quite obvious.  When you realize that 36% of all units sold by Amazon are actually via third party vendors you cannot help but wonder if Amazon is an online retailer or rather becoming a retail "community."

Of course there will be a continued push to expand the concept of retail further and further into new areas, and we have the continued efforts to champion the concepts of  social commerce or "f-commerce," mobile commerce or "m-commerce," and the constant chatter of frictionless payments and a host of other ideas to continue to champion ideas over the existing brick and mortar retail grid.  Oh, and we will continue to hear all the predictions of the demise of traditional retail and the idea that consumer expectations can only be met by technology.

There is no doubt that traditional retail, brick and mortar retail, big box retailers, and department stores all have a myriad of issues and shortcomings, but that does not negate the fundamental shortcoming of e-commerce:  Which is the "experience" of retail; as e-commerce matures, and if it is to continue its growth patterns, online retailers will have to find a way to capture the "experience" of retail.  

We will focus on this with our T Shirts on Tuesday series:

          March 6th:    Cafe Press Goes "Kiosks" On Campus

      

          March 13th:  Threadless Becomes A "Brand"

          March 20th:  An "Indie" Superstore

There really is no reason to discuss ideas when we have the efforts of some of the leading ecommerce innovation leaders pointing the direction to the future.

Entrepreneurship, Social Media, and Making A Difference

It is hard at times to discern the true value of the internet from all the hype that exists around and about the web and the internet.  It seems as if the internet and technology can cure everything that ails us, our society, and our economy; as if eating, drinking, and breathing code can solve everything.

No doubt I could be considered a skeptic, and of course I have been skeptical of the teaching of entrepreneurship in schools before and my thoughts about social media and ecommerce are well known.

But, every now and then you come across something that truly represents the hype of the internet as "revolutionary" and you have to acknowledge that; Kickstarter is an example of a real revolution.  Kickstarter represents a new way to fund creative projects; its where the concept of "crowd funding" is brought together with artists, filmmakers, musicians, designers, writers, illustrators, explorers, curators, performers, and many others to bring projects, events, and dreams to life.

In particular, I think that it is an obvious way, in smaller communities, for young people, for creative people, to become entrepreneurs and solve problems in their local communities.  One clear example, which was brought to my attention at AVC.Com was T.A.G. (Teen Art Gallery):



You can learn more about T.A.G. here or view their Kickstarter submission here.

A group of young people, taking the initiative to come together to plan and organize a teen art gallery.  This is exactly what entrepreneurship is all about; this is what social media and the promise of an online community is all about.

I am glad to see that this particular project is now fully funded and will move forward!  But do take the time to search the various projects seeking funding at Kickstarter and see if this is a way for you, as an individual to make a difference.  Or, become an entrepreuner and start your own project!


Another example of entrepreneurship, social media, and making a difference is Donors Choose, which is an online charity that connects donors with classrooms in need.