Conventional Shopping Malls and the Concept of Endangered Species

The advent of the internet and courier services that ship globally have revolutionized our lives and the habits we exhibit. It has improved our choice of purchases, income earning opportunities, food preferences and almost everything about our existence. However, one major area in our lives that has seen a remarkable and improved shift is in the way we shop. Shopping today has been made very accessible to everyone across the globe irrespective of the individual’s distance from the ‘shopping mall’. This bright side of internet enabled shopping habits has some negative effects on the conventional shopping malls or stalls where people shop. The obvious negative effect here is that a time would come when people would no longer be attracted to shopping malls in neighborhoods or street corners but would rather prefer to shop online and pay for their purchases with their credit or debit cards. When this occurs, it means that businesses that sell retail goods may be shut out of service become endangered and eventually go on extinction. International retail giants such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Target and Alibaba are already global brands that have almost knocked out the conventional retail outlets especially those dealing in homecare products, electronics, electrical appliances and mobile devices.

The obvious question that may bug the mind of ecommerce experts would be how these conventional retail stores located in neighborhoods would be able to cope under the heat of this stifling competition from major industry players that are increasing in their popularity. The social media has not even helped the conventional or traditional shopping malls very much. Facebook and twitter are two major social networks that have helped online businesses to reach more customers in a relatively short period of time. These online companies such as Amazon leverage on the advantages of online advertising in social media platforms and their affiliate programs to gain popularity among folks in any country they choose to operate in. The only solution that is available to these traditional shopping malls and retain stores is to embrace online shopping, establish a formidable presence on social media platforms and create affiliate programs with inviting commission payments to members if they are to survive the onslaught of internet penetration and survive in a world where previously solid businesses are becoming endangered and are enroute to extinction.