Many shops and stores in cities have disappeared in recent years. This phenomenon is an inevitable consequence as online shopping has become more prevalent. From my perspective, this trend will bring both advantages and disadvantages, however, the benefits will justify the drawbacks.
The disappearance of brick and mortar shops will make cities’ outlooks less diverse. High street shops are often placed on busy and crowded streets in every city. Those stores are the main reason attracting customers to come for shopping and it goes hand in hand with the existence of many other businesses such as coffee shops and restaurants. Therefore, when brick and mortar shops go out, the dynamic and busy atmosphere of many streets will disappear, making the city’s outlook bleak. Furthermore, customers are losing their chances to see, touch and feel the products before they make their decisions to buy. For many people, shopping around is considered as a hobby. Going through a chain of shops to see a product first-hand and feel it physically is important to see whether those products’ qualities meet their expectation or not. However, with high street stores have been closing, customers are having less chances to experience the products before making their own decisions to buy.
On the other hand, modern life has become increasingly hectic. As consumers are having less time for leisure activities, they switch to online shopping. The disappearance of physical stores therefore is an unavoidable result of modern lifestyle. In addition, this trend will re-organise the way retail businesses are being operated. As retail businesses have been converting their physical shops to online stores, a significant amount of operating expenses can be saved, such as spendings on commercial real estates. Operating businesses in a more economical way will result in cut-price products, which is obviously beneficial to customers. Furthermore, the disappearance of physical stores may lead to a decline in price reduction in real estate markets, giving the opportunity of property rental to other new forms of business, as a result of modernisation.
In conclusion, many shops and stores have closed as a result of e-commerce and online shopping. While this trend can cause some drawbacks, it is the unavoidable result of modernisation and will bring many other benefits to both new businesses and consumers.