Shopping around: the online threat to retail

In the not too distant future, you will be able to scan your body measurements into your laptop, providing a three-dimensional mirror to try on a new dress, suit or pair of jeans.The online dressing room technology already exists overseas, and it’s hard to imagine it won’t boost even further the steady stream of online sales frustrating local retailers.It’s only one new innovation, in a changing world of retail that experts claim now sees up to two out of every three Australians shop for something online.And that’s before it really takes off here. Sue Morphet, from Pacific Brands, recently gave a speech saying in the UK, total online sales were close to 10 per cent of all retail sales; in the US, it was closer to 8 per cent, and in Australia, it sat at just 3 per cent.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/14/3243364.htmAlso see:Bookshops to be wiped out inside five years, Australian Small Business Minister Nick Sherry predicts
Bricks and mortar bookstores will be all but wiped out by online shopping within five years, federal Small Business Minister Nick Sherry has predicted.Senator Sherry said the dramatic growth of internet book sales had reached a “tipping point” that would soon leave just a few specialty bookstores operating in capital cities.
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/bookshops-to-be-wiped-out-inside-five-years-small-business-minister-nick-sherry-predicts/story-e6frg8nf-1226074957190Aussie minister predicts end of bookshops
Australian booksellers’ jaws dropped today upon hearing that Minister for Small Business Nick Sherry had predicted online shopping would wipe out general bookstores within five years.The minister said this morning he expected that only specialist players in capital cities would survive.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/5143310/Aussie-minister-predicts-end-of-bookshops