Will Amazon take over the world (of shopping) ?

It is tempting to believe that all shops are doomed and Amazon and their kind will replace all of them, I think the world will be a much different place in the not too distant future but there will come a time when online matures and grows only by the rate of inflation.

Looking at the issues.  In the UK where I live we have a number of challenges.

• Traditional high streets can be dirty and run down
• Parking and congestion to get to shops is a real problem
• Service is not always great
• Too often sales staff just use the internet to check for stock and pricing.
• Environmental impact of journeys and the running of large stores.

Given that Amazon prime offers same day delivery often at a total price less than the shops, particularly if use your own transport to get there.

So what I forecast will happen.

1. The traditional high street will be replaced with socialising venues, cafe's, restaurants bars etc.
2. Online will grow to be the biggest % of shopping
3. Smart AI will help to auto select products and order things that really fit, e.g if your home computer knows your current weight and dimensions it can order precisely the right thing for you.
4. Style AI will help you make the best fashion selections.
5. Shopping will be a niche either for advisory services or for higher end fashion e.g Armani

This means the current decline in high street shopping will continue.

Amazon is not only a shop it also offers to host websites on Amazon  and maybe like Google it will soon enter other market niches such as insurance, financial services, travel and who knows what else.

UK retailers needs to really take the opportunity of investing in the online space before they fall too far behind the likes of Google and Amazon.