By Zach Weigel
Could a brick-and-mortar demise be on the horizon? Are our shopping habits driving the market in an e-commerce direction such that we may someday live in a world without stores as we currently know them?
These are just two questions that we may very soon have to ponder. I don’t mean to prognosticate that brick-and-mortar stores or conventional retail shopping centers are doomed to go belly-up because of an increasing online marketplace, but perhaps it is worth analyzing this idea a little more, especially since President Trump has been an ardent champion of isolationist policies putting “America first.”
If his rhetoric holds and Trump does in fact reorient the structure of the American economy by emphasizing domestic production over reciprocating trade agreements, then the growth of the online marketplace is sure to fit somewhere in the disjointed formula of a capitalist economy that places a precedent on consumer preferences.
What is more, by curtailing the need for salesmen and cashiers at stores, could the burgeoning online marketplace offset potential gains envisioned by Trump in his plea to create more manufacturing jobs?
As it turns out, bringing back manufacturing jobs simply may not be enough to “Make America Great Again.” Financial information website marketwatch.com postulates that Amazon, one of the forerunners of online shopping, could actually end up killing more American jobs than China. It seems consumers are increasingly choosing to buy products online through retailers such as Amazon rather than through traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Particularly, MarketWatch has found that department stores are being hit the hardest as online sales detract proportionally more from their business compared to small “mom and pop” type of shops frequented by locals. In fact, statistics show that common retailers of products in General Merchandise, Apparel and Accessories, Furniture, and Other Sales saw a 0.6 percent decline in sales this past year compared with Amazon’s 28 percent growth.
Now, albeit that Amazon has essentially become the online equivalent of Walmart given its pervasive scope, you still might wonder how exactly this could translate to Amazon killing more American jobs than  China. To that end, economists estimate that through the years, China’s comparative advantage in manufacturing has cost the U.S. roughly 2 million jobs; however, this figure pales in comparison with the number of jobs the U.S. loses if retailers such as Amazon continue to grow exponentially. Not only can online retailers such as Amazon monopolize the business of traditional retailers, which would cost cashiers, sales people, and managers their jobs as department stores and malls are forced to close up shop, Amazon’s way of doing business also puts the jobs of warehouse workers and delivery-service providers at stake.
So seeing as sales are increasingly moving to online marketplaces, maybe we should pay attention to the forecasts of economists. After all, it is rather logical to presume that online shopping will continue to flourish, given its convenience and economical pricing.
Then again, it’s a bit unrealistic to believe that Amazon and other online marketers will completely root out retailers as we know them. Traditional businesses are apt to inevitably find ways of adapting, but unless something crazy happens — like the internet ceases to exist or buying things online becomes so heavily taxed that it is no longer economical — you may want to savor your retailing experiences. The mall or places such as Best Buy, Macy’s, and Walmart could soon be overtaken by online marketers similar to how television supplanted the radio.