Removing the cost of offices is a large incentive for businesses to go virtual Furthermore, Virtua

The online shopping phenomenon has changed the way people purchase goods all over the world. PwC reports that 26% of the US, 39% of the UK and 75% of China shop online weekly. Sites such as Amazon, eBay, ASOS etc. are household names while shopping malls are experiencing poorer sale records than ever before.
US department stores JC Penney, Macy s and Sears have announced closures; with the former announcing it will close 33 stores in the near future. In Australia, the two dominant department stores, Myer and David Jones have reported falls in profits over the past couple of years.
Statistics indicate stein mart locations that this lost store traffic will shift to online shopping permanently. Forrester Research predicts that 10% of retail sales in the US will be online by 2017. It is evident that this trend will continue to grow in the future as people become increasingly aware of the cheaper costs and loyalty programs associated with shopping online.
In the future, retailers must employ smarter marketing techniques, focusing on things such as social media, in-store pick-up for online orders, more competitive loyalty programs and free shipping if they wish to survive in this fierce market place. stein mart locations Yet, there may still be a faint glimmer of hope for retailers as experts still regard customer satisfaction as a valuable trait for retailers, something less achievable for online retailers. THE RISE OF ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT
Starting as a mail order DVD rental service. Netflix now streams video content to over 44 million subscribers worldwide and is continuing to grow each year. Consumers are now spoilt for choice with competitors including Amazon, HBO GO, Vudu and Hulu Plus all entering the market.
The clearest victim is the media companies as TV channel subscribers fell to 32% of US households in 2013 while Netflix and related products rose to 27%. TV channels, which traditionally held more market power, are losing ground due to the convenience of video-on-demand services as well as the reduction in costs to produce quality entertainment.
Both new and old entertainment media face the risks of video piracy. To curb this, Netflix has entered the entertainment creation industry. Unlike traditional players, Netflix can collect stein mart locations data ranging from a subscriber stein mart locations s movie preferences, stein mart locations when they start/pause and stop a show which it uses to keep a pulse on consumer preferences. Based on an algorithm analysing 33 million consumers choices, Netflix created the award winning television series House of Cards.
The entertainment battle of the digital world demands stein mart locations constant innovation, which Netflix is meeting with a new way of creating programming. TV will have to adapt to this disruptive technology if it is to keep its viewers from switching to streaming services. UNIVERSITIES AND VIRTUAL WORKERS
Removing the cost of offices is a large incentive for businesses to go virtual Furthermore, Virtual work also promotes productivity: A Study by Gallup found that employee engagement for remote workers was 4% higher compared to employees who work on site.
Regardless of what companies think is best, the trend is that employees want to work at home, 79% of US workers want to work virtually. Companies will need to restructure to accommodate virtual workers, with collaborative technologies, infrequent staff-wide meetings and other programs.
The number stein mart locations of students taking an online course has increased 6.1% to 7.1 million from 2011 to 2012. Online universities allow students to study regardless of financial, stein mart locations geographical or time constraints. Education is counter-cyclical to employment, so we expect rising enrolment in online education as unemployment increases and workers need to be re-trained. Indeed, the large majority of Australian online education users are re-skilling or unemployed.
Social Media is changing the way we interact with our friends and family. Twitter is one of the most popular social networking sites, reporting revenue of $US243 million last year increasing a staggering 116% from the fourth quarter stein mart locations of 2012. From 2012 to 2013, Twitter s advertising revenue increased by 121%. Facebook has experienced a remarkable turnaround after its IPO debacle with revenue increasing 72% to $US2.5 billion in 2013, with 59% of ad sales coming from mobile advertising. Facebook s net income also tripled in the past year, to $US642 million.
Facebook stein mart locations itself has 1.28 billion monthly stein mart locations active users, which is almost half of the world s internet population. Investors, large corporations and small businesses alike clamour to have their voice and name heard on what is now the new TV , a platform from which millions of people can be reached at one time.
Twitter is an appropriate example, having 600 paid advertisers who merely expect their company account to be on Twitter s Who to Follow list. Not only is advertising stein mart locations now available on desktop computers, but also on mobile phones. In a world where most of