Retail's Future: Net Ads, Ecommerce

[Commentary] A record number of consumers are choosing to shop online this gloomy holiday season because the instant price comparisons, social-network recommendations, free shipping and other interactive tools save time and money. It is a behavioral shift that is permanently changing commerce and advertising in ways that Madison Avenue has yet to fully grasp. The recession is compelling consumers to discover better, cheaper ways to accomplish the mission online. Pitching a product or service isn't enough--even if it is to highly targeted connected consumers. Retailers are also advertisers; they must embrace interactivity to achieve their fundamental objective: the consumer esale. Advertisers' aggressive adoption of new online marketing and ecommerce business models could prove an ironic and valuable byproduct of challenging times.