E-commerce is a runaway success. Soon we'll be buying everything over the Internet. It looks as if small independent store owners might as well call it quits. E-commerce is just one more way of selling. It has its weaknesses.
Downtowns can do very well if they pluck up their courage and fight back.
Johnston suggests stores band together and present themselves as a single shopping destination. From the home page you land on town pages with lists of stores. Click on the name of a store and you land on the store's directory page. By printing sheets for the stores they'd like to visit, shoppers create their own shopping trip guide. They can also print out a page of maps with driving directions.