According to one of the predictions from the IBM "5 in 5" annual report about the use of technology in the not so distant future, "buying local will beat online".
The forthcoming innovations can bring the power of the Web into the bricks and mortar stores making sales people smarter and more effective at servicing customers.
Artificial intelligence can be incorporated into physical shopping experience.
Augmented reality can deliver more information to the store shelves.
Retailers will use the immediacy of the store and proximity to customers
to create experiences that online-only retail can’t replicate.
The technology will help stores to anticipate customer wants and needs.
The report even suggests that on-line retailers will have to "set up showrooms to help their own sales".
Technology will help us save time and reduce the 'pains' of shopping for some while amplifying the fun of shopping for others. In grocery retail, augmented reality will map out the optimal route to the products on our shopping list; based on the list of product, a shopper may get suggestions as to some items a person may be missing; using the history of one's shopping choices, the technology can help us not miss some stuff we usually buy or suggest something new to try in line with our tastes; or show what's on sale visually, directing a shopper to the sale products; we may be able to see interactive product descriptions and contents that will even tell us if they can work with our diet plan or health requirements; we will be able to locate staff on the floor and connect with them more easily or a store manager or any other function of the company; we will be able to instantly share our thoughts about products with fellow shoppers and ask their opinion about it. In apparel retailing, we will be able to instanteniously get fitting rooms and remotely ask for help; get any information about the product contents, construction, history, compare them with what we have in our wardrobe; we will be able to get our questions answered and concerns addressed. The home and hardware retailers will show and explain how to use, store and recycle products. Physical retailing will be interactive, efficient and fun.
To expand on the topic about what could happen in the future, here's the link to Michio Kaku's "The Physics of the Future", which gives mind boggling predictions based on more than 300 interviews with top scientists of today - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UgE-NhcmbM
http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/16/ibm-reveals-its-top-five-predictions-for-the-next-five-years/
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