The growth of Online shopping will one day lead to all shops in towns and cities closing. Do you agree or disagree?

Some people believe that in the not so distant future physical shops in towns and cities would have to close down. In my opinion, I agree that

this

would definitely happen as recent consumer behaviour trends already point out. One major reason brick and mortar shops may soon become a thing of the past is the changes in human behaviour. People today are generally time poor. We live in a world of heavy traffic and longer working hours and as

such

most people do not relish the idea of going to shopping centres and having to spend several hours.

For instance

, a study carried out by the New York Times in 2018 showed that the number of people who shop exclusively online increased by 85% in the

last

decade. What

this

means is that physical stores are getting less traffic as their potential clients have shifted to the more convenient option of buying online. Another thing to consider is that new entrants into retail business are choosing to run their stores online as against opening physical stores. They choose

this

route because it reduces cost of entry considering they could run a profitable business venture right from their living room.

This

assertion is supported by recent studies by research organisations which have shown that with the advent of social media sites like Instagram and Facebook, a lot of businesses now run their stores solely on these sites.

In other words

existing stores are dwindling in number and new ones are

also

not springing up. To conclude, going by the recent trend in consumer shopping preferences it is certain that one day soon all physical shops in urban areas will be forced to move to online channels and ultimately close their doors.