At some point in the not too distant future, you may be telling your great-grandkids about the days of hanging out on Friday nights at the mall and picking out fresh pair of Skidz and Guess Jeans from Merry-Go-Round. And they will have not idea what you are talking about.
"You mean, kind of like a whole bunch of pop-up shops, Grandma?"
While e-commerce is nowhere close to this possible future, it is growing rapidly as a percentage of total retail sales. According to Mary Meeker's latest Internet Trends screed, e-commerce now accounts for 9 percent of total retail sales, up from less than 1 percent in 1998.
And while e-commerce is still a high-risk proposition for some investors, one area that is seeing a few more successes than broad, all-encompassing e-commerce sites and daily deal startups is with companies selling niche products to devoted customer bases.