The Idea Blog

According to studies (and this article in today’s New York Times), growth in selling on the web is stalling. This is interesting for a lot of reasons, but it caught my eye because we’re working on a project to enhance a client’s online presence and to include the capability of selling its products directly through its website.

Whether growing or slowing, however, it’s clear to me that the online model is changing. Here’s one of my key takeaways from the article:

The bookseller Borders, for example, recently revamped its Web site to allow users to reserve books online and pick them up in the store. Similar services were started by companies like Best Buy and Sears. Other retailers are working to follow suit.

“You don’t realize how powerful of a phenomenon this new strategy has become,” Mr. Whaley said. “Nearly every big box retailer is opening it up.”

Barnes & Noble recently upgraded its site to include online book clubs, reader forums and interviews with authors. The company hopes the changes will make the online world feel more like the offline one, said Marie J. Toulantis, the chief executive of BarnesandNoble.com. “We emulate the in-store experience by having a book club online,” she said.

And this from a Business 2.0 blog, quick to comment on the Times article: “The trick for the Web retailers going forward will be to focus on those transactions that take advantage of what the Internet brings to the party. And to make the experience as smooth and emotionally satisying as a trip to the Apple store.”