With the development of the web, e-commerce also appears in our life. There are more and more people who do the business through internet. Why? In my opinion, there are three main reasons. First, most people are so busy that haven't time to go shopping. second, the products are more cheaper than that displayed in the shop. Third, it is very convenient to buy what people's wanted through the online shop.
As mobile devices get more and more advanced, shopping from your iPhone or Blackberry will be commonplace. Some large corporations are already doing this, but this will be the next phase of e-commerce.
Another reason includes the idea of drop shipping is getting more and more popular, that's why a lot of people with tight budget can run ecommerce store without the burden of handling stock or shipping. But surely the competition is at the same time getting tougher. That's why people are still into affliate or cpa...while all of us know the ecommerce would soon take over the world.
eCommerce is a multi billion dollar industry, in the future I would probably guess that stores are going to become obselete.