How the Web Interacts with Brick & Mortar!

"Now, one company is planning 3-D-like tours of Cambridge, Mass., and other cities that not only venture down streets, but also inside some local businesses. Tourists to this virtual Cambridge will be able to click their way along a Brattle Street rendered in realistic detail, and move through the computer-generated interiors of dozens of nearby shops and institutions."

This story is really interesting because it shows how the web is influencing and changing how brick and mortar stores conduct their businesses. If you think about this for just a minute, you realize that prospects on the web no longer even have to visit a store to see the displays and promotions!

The more people can do about their shopping on the web, the better it is for web sites that have effectively built their web sites to respond to searcher interests.

Online Sales Continue to Jump

"ComScore Inc. reported on Tuesday that consumers spent $733 million online on Monday, a 21 percent gain from the same day a year ago. ComScore had expected that sales would exceed the $700 million figure."

Internet sales continue to set records in increases! Several reports (this is one) have cited gains over last year in Internet sales this year. This kind of increase over prior year results is consistent with the long term pattern that we have observed now for several years.

The truly significant aspect of this news this time is that retail sales for this retail season are not increasing over last year sales in the same . Loren Steffy reported in his column that, "During the weekend after Thanksgiving, a barometer of holiday retail spending, consumers spent an average of $347.44, according to the National Retail Federation. That's down 3.5 percent from a year earlier."

This kind of news should encourage every small business owner to keep working on improving the company website. There is plenty of opportunity to be taken advantage of in this arena of marketing!