Online vs In the Flesh

I'm not entirely sure if I whether I'd have an actual store or an online store if I were to open a business. I think it'd have to depend on what I was trying to sell.

Online stores are cost efficient and easy to run if you're able set yourself up with a user-friendly and accessible website.  You don't have to pay anyone to make sure the store looks presentable and keep items in stock. There's not really any clean-up or maintenance to worry about.  There aren't any extra utilities to pay and you don't have to deal with douchey customers.

However, you miss out on several opportunities that you would have if you were to own an actual building with a store set up inside.  Once a customer buys something from you, they have to wait for it to ship.  People are impatient and might not always be willing to wait before they can have their stuff.  In a store customers are able to see in person what they are about to buy.  They can smell or touch or sometimes even taste what it is you're selling whereas online the only interaction they'll have with the product is what's on the page.  Customers don't get to physically interact with what they're buying so you have to make sure you have the best information posted without weighing down potential customers with too much.  We all know how fickle internet users are, if you don't draw them in or provide them with too much to read, you've lost them.  Impulse buying happens a lot less online so that opportunity is also lost.

Overall, I think that some types of businesses might transition entirely to online sales and some may never make that jump.  I can see primarily media distribution happening almost entirely online once technology develops a little further.  People are already downloading books, music, movies, and games. It's just a matter of time before those retail industries shift online.  However, there are also some businesses that will likely never be sold exclusively online such as bath products, which people often want to be able to smell before they buy,  and food, which won't retain freshness if you have to wait for it to get to you in the mail.