Business Week reports that J.C. Penney will open a physical manifestation of the much-hyped virtual store at New York's Times Square in March.
We've been hearing about the virtual store for many years now, with the hype growing to a crescendo during the first coming of the Internet, and peaking just before the tech wreck. Since then, e-commerce has been growing steadily towards inevitable dominance at some point in the distant future.
A spectacular initiative from American department store retailing institution J. C. Penney might cause everybody to rethink how e-commerce and the future of retailing might unfold though. The company will construct a 15,000-square-foot physical manifestation of the virtual store at One Times Square on the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway, in New York City.
The opening of this temporary virtual store from March 3-26, in which shoppers can purchase the company's full range of merchandise at interactive kiosks, marks a significant development in the history of retail. Traveling virtual superstores could eventually be a part of retailing's future.
We've been hearing about the virtual store for many years now, with the hype growing to a crescendo during the first coming of the Internet, and peaking just before the tech wreck. Since then, e-commerce has been growing steadily towards inevitable dominance at some point in the distant future.
A spectacular initiative from American department store retailing institution J. C. Penney might cause everybody to rethink how e-commerce and the future of retailing might unfold though. The company will construct a 15,000-square-foot physical manifestation of the virtual store at One Times Square on the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway, in New York City.
The opening of this temporary virtual store from March 3-26, in which shoppers can purchase the company's full range of merchandise at interactive kiosks, marks a significant development in the history of retail. Traveling virtual superstores could eventually be a part of retailing's future.