Ask HN: How can Brick and Mortar malls utilize ecommerce?
a) Is it sensible to bring an entire mall's individual shops' inventory online for customers to browse easily and have items delivered to them?
b) What would be the value proposition for the mall’s owners?
c) What are some examples of malls that have all their shops plus their inventory listed online? The issue with ecommerce is how competitive it is. You are no longer only competing within a 40km radius, you are now competing globally. A brick-and-mortar mall likely could not compete with such low prices and so your online sales would probably not warrant the initial investment in setting up ecommerce. People don't attend brick-and-mortar malls for low prices, they attend for the experience, to try clothes on, maybe buy a few small items and to have a milkshake all whilst only needing cash, no terms of service involved. If you focus on improving the experience of shopping at a mall, it doesn't matter what your prices are, you will likely receive a higher return than if you invested that same money in ecommerce. a) Sure. b) Absolutely none; malls depends on foot traffic. c) Don't know of any. I think that malls have one 'Amazon-esque' quality that hasn't really been tapped into. Selection. Wide Selection. Plus one huge advantage over Amazon - proximity to customers. Think about it; how convenient it would be to get a shopper to visit any and all the shops in a given mall and have all the items delivered to you in an hour or less. From couches to mattresses to groceries. The mall acts as a warehouse of sorts and the mall owners can co-run the service reaping the benefits of either a margin/commission on sales and/or a service & delivery fee. EDIT: If foot traffic is the main issue for the mall owners, then eCommerce with in-store pick up could be a another way to accommodate this. I just think that the idea that you can browse anything you want from a mall and know it's price and specs is too good to pass up. Malls have more selection than Amazon? I seriously doubt that, but if there's evidence to the contrary, happy to reconsider. It's more convenient not to go to the mall. Convenience won't be the seller here. No single mall can compete w/ Amazon's warehouse and delivery system: it's huge. Many mall stores already do online ordering w/ in-store pickup. There's certainly some room to expand this, but "convenient" isn't the way I'd compare someone bringing it to me and me having to go get it. To me that seems obvious on the face of it, but maybe I'm missing something. What malls allow for is trying things on. Having a tactile experience with merchandise. More space to provoke impulse purchases.