E-commerce is poised for a fundamental change—a shift from making online purchases (commercial transactions involving a single consumer interacting with a two-dimensional Web page) to going shopping online (a social experience involving groups of people interacting with one another in a three-dimensional Web space). The difference between the two is as great as the difference between sitting on your couch leafing through a J. Crew catalog and heading off with friends for an afternoon trip to the mall. If virtual shopping takes off, it is likely to unleash the next surge of e-commerce growth.
A version of this article appeared in the October 2006 issue of Harvard Business Review.
