SHOULD WAL-MART'S ECOMMERCE STRATEGY BE EMBRACED BY SMALL RETAILERS?

Ecommerce shipping success brought about by Wal-Mart's example has spawned a good number of online retailers now offering buy online, in-store pick up option. Can this be the beginning of zero shipping costs and quantum leap on sales conversions by online retailers? Is this going to be the ultimate ecommerce strategy that will break the "shopping cart abandonment tradition"?

Who knows, but this is when finding the answer to the question really matters. Why? Because since the trend has been set by big online retailers such as Wal-Mart or Ace Hardware, many smaller retailers aren't likely to follow their footsteps. An ecommerce strategy that would allow buyers to find the product by going to the nearest store itself after showing the intention to buy it from the online store may cost them more money than profit itself.

For example, niche apparel stores such as Nike, American Eagle, or Callaway Golf may find it actually more difficult to profit by shipping smaller or fewer items to fewer stores nationwide. Sure, they can adopt Wal-Mart's ecommerce strategy but they would have to ship products on longer time frames -- weeks, instead of days, to save costs. I'd say the question now can only be answered by individual small retailers themselves.

Top 50 E-Commerce Stores - Like 'em or Lump 'em!

Now what could be more enlightening than coming up with a list of top 50 e-commerce merchant stores today? I must agree that they're making gargantuan profit, but there's a lot that the common eyes can't see. Curious about our analysis? Check out the list and we'll let you know what we think!

1. Amazon.com
2. e-Bay.com
3. Wal-Mart.com
4. BestBuy.com
5. JCPenney.com
6. Target.com
7. Kohls.com
8. Overstock.com
9. Google.com
10. Sears.com
11. OldNavy.com
12. CircuitCity.com
13. LandsEnd.com
14. LLBean.com
15. QVC.com
16. Yahoo.com
17. Blair.com
18. Macys.com
19. LaneBryant.com
20. HomeDepot.com
21. VictoriasSecret.com
22. Chadwicks.com
23. AE.com/American Eagle
24. Haband.com
25. ColdwaterCreek.com
26. Gap.com
27. Lowes.com
28. EddieBauer.com
29. Newport-News.com
3o. Costco.com
31. Newegg.com
32. TigerDirect.com
33. HSN. com
34. Buy.com
35. Zappos.com
36. Roamans.com
37. SmartBargains.com
38. AOL.com
39. MSN.com
40. WomanWithin.com
41. Cabelas.com
42. EastBay.com
43. SierraTradingPost.com
44. Kmart.com
45. KingSizeDirect.com
46. Forever21.com
47. Dell.com
48. SamsClub.com
49. CasualMale.com
50. FashionBug.com