The commercial viability of the e-mall
model has been questioned in its current
implementation and in the current state-
of-the-market. IBM World Avenue, for
example, has folded. One of the reasons
may be that the ‘neighbour’ concept does
not translate into physical distance in
cyberspace, where each location is only
one click away. Therefore, not much additional
convenience in finding shops is
delivered. Furthermore, the sophisticated
user (i.e. the majority of those on the Web
today!) is able to handle a variety of seller-
buyer user interfaces and therefore may
be less attached to a uniform user interface.
On the other hand, there are also indications
that an increasing number of
companies wish to outsource their Web-
operations, which may increase the opportunity
for e-malls or 3rd party marketplaces
(see below). Possibly this reflects
the shift from early adopters to mass-market
use of the Internet amongst businesses.