In the 1990′s when use of the internet was expanding at incredible speed and trends were emerging that had business traditionalists uttering phrases like “clicks and mortar”, the retail game appeared to be forever changing in a few short years. The bubble marketers were working to convince everyone that a physical storefront not only had to be quickly supplemented with a viable eCommerce presence, but that eCommerce revenue would quickly outpace and perhaps completely replace traditional commerce.

Then the bubble burst. I remember quite vividly sitting in a previous employer’s London office in late 2001 watching the commerce world react like an expanded spring snapping back to its original pre-bubble shape. One image in particular that sticks in my mind is that of looking out over the shops lining Regent Street and, seeing the steady stream of people popping in and out of the shops, thinking to myself that somehow the buying public just wasn’t ready to give up the physical store experience. Over the following years, online commerce continued to expand without the P.T. Barnum-esque atmosphere of the late 1990′s and online processes continued to evolve that increased the viability and profitability of companies focused on eCommerce. Consumers also became more comfortable with online commerce and more drawn to the online experience. The online channel became a core function of any viable business.

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