Cheaper price too when buying electronics at say, Amazon.

I would consider myself somewhat of an 'early adopter', and so for the past several years I have already been using the Internet for almost all my shopping. As such, I feel much like my early adoption of iPhone, HDTV or WiFi, online shopping will become equally ubiquitous. While shopping online has been making steady progress since the late 90s, it has only in the past couple of years become mature enough for ordinary purchases such as groceries, rather than mail-order luxuries such as electronics. More and more I am seeing family and friends order their groceries for delivery, which in itself is very pleasing. I am a very sociable person by nature, but I have always found supermarkets to be very tedious indeed, for many of the same reasons as listed.

For me, some things (at least in the UK) that need structural development are;

- more real-time tracking
- better delivery time slots
- faster delivery network and turnaround
- greater order security online
- better preparation for delivery in exceptional weather
- more traditional customer service

The last point is one I feel particularly strongly about. Certainly I never expect to be able to chat with an online site representative face-to-face, but some companies cut costs to such an extent they don't even have a phone number to call. That is just shoddy, and a trend that should be reversed.

In summation though, I think in 5-10 years we'll see a heavy reliance on delivery shopping, but not so much for items we traditionally want to see before we buy such as clothing, cars, jewellery etc.

Eh, I think "killed" is an exaggeration. I remember people saying this exact same thing in 1994.

I still want to try on clothes before I buy them and I still want to go to Starbucks while I am at the mall. So do plenty of other people.

i think for most consumer goods this is true. The fact that I can beat most brick and mortar stores with online prices makes it a no brainer in my book. why would I pay more?

Add in selection. If i go to the store for an item that is availbe in 10 colors but they only carry 2, why would i settle. Or if i am looking for an ipad2 case (which I am) the local store is going to have maybe 3 different kinds. The internet has 100's.

However for me at least, there is a huge area that I don't really buy online. Clothes. I am a guy and things often fit me weird. I would rather go to a store and try things on if i have to. Yes i could just order it online, wait for it to arrive (hopefully get free shipping), try it on, find out it doesn't work, crap i needed a different size, now they aren't doing free shipping anymore, what to do? etc. Horrible process. Oh and hope they have free return shipping or you can return in store (see now you're going to the store anyways, why not cut out the whole beginning process...) and if not then you take a loss just trying to ship it all back. Not to mention the cost all floating on your bank account until it is all processed and returned.

When I was a teen I used to ride my bike or have my mom drop me off at the mall and I'd hang out with friends there most of the day. Now 20+ years later I'm finding myself doing the same thing albeit only for a couple hours and pushing a stroller with Peet's in my hand. And yes, I'd buy something on occasion.

Our mall just got a three-story Forever 21. Trust me when I say, it is alive and well. When it comes to certain things, the internet cannot provide instant gratification.

I wanted an iMac, I went to the mall. I want new clothes, I go to the mall. I wanted an iPhone, I went to the mall. Of course, if it's something where I'd just rather not deal with horrible customer service - I'll just get it online for convenience.

I'd say there's equal play here. Online shopping just allows for more people with limited access to take care of everything from home.

Also, what is the impact of people wanting to patronize local businesses, in many cases closer to their homes?