So,
In a rare occurrence, I have managed to finish the primary homework assignments for the week. For the record, it is always my goal to complete everything except the minor follow-up tasks by Thursday afternoon but it has been a rare occurrence when this has happened in the last 6 months or so. Too often, homework has carried over to Friday or Saturday and even into Sunday, which is the usual due date at 11pm.
I'm going to take advantage of this week's oddity to get a jump on next week's work, which includes tossing out the Homework Help question of the week:
Will brick and mortar shopping disappear? Why or why not?
I'm actually not going to ask you to answer this question unless your answer is a resounding "Yes!" If that's the case, I would love to hear your answer.
Instead, I'll answer this one and ask a question of my own that is a variation of the given question because (1) this one seems too simple and (2), as has been pointed out previously, I'm not the kind of person that just accepts what's given.
My answer:
No, and here are a couple of reasons (feel free to add your own). First, there are some things that have to be experienced before purchasing. Clothing seems the obvious choice to me, especially shoes. Sure, companies have increasingly generous return policies but it's much simpler to just go to a shoe store and try them all on right then and there and walk out with the pair that feels right. Websites can have virtual models with your measurements but even if they make them into 3D images or holograms, it won't tell you what it feels like. Cars would be another choice that I would throw out there. Test driving seems mandatory.
Let me amend my intitial answer by adding an "at least not in the near future" behind the "no". This is a class centered on the Internet taken by students who are attending via the Internet. It could be very easy to jump to the assumption that everyone has access to the Internet and a way to make payments over the Internet. However, this is obviously not the case and it may be sometime until everyone has the Internet at their fingertips.
Now it's your turn. Look into your crystal ball and tell me what you see for the future of e-commerce in relation to brick-and-mortar businesses? What is on the horizon? What do you see as highly probable? More interesting to me, what do you see in the realm of incredible but possible?
