The future of e-commerce is going to feel a lot like walking into a store 50 years ago, according to a Google executive.
Osama Bedier, vice president of payments at Google, told an audience at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco on Wednesday night that e-commerce is about to go through a radical transition. And the more online retail changes, the more it will feel like shopping at your local corner store.
"We're about to see some major change in this space," said Bedier, who was a vice president at PayPal until Google hired him in January. "This is not about any one app. It's not about any one site. It's not about any one company. It's about us working together to overcome challenges."
According to Bedier, the change in e-commerce will come because of the convergence of three things -- mobile, local and personal.
Mobility is one of the biggest trends in the tech industry, and in mainstream media. In the fourth quarter of 2010, sales of mobile devices outpaced sales of PCs.
And companies are increasingly focusing on what customers want locally. Groupon , which gives users offers of local deals, has taken off in the past year. And Color is a new social smartphone app that shares users' photos with whomever is near them.
Bedier said the third component will be about personalizing the shopping experience.
"I walked into a store and the owner greeted me by name," said Bedier. "It made me feel good. He tells me my dad's favorite bread is on sale. I asked for Spanish olives and he doesn't' have them but he says the store down the street has them or he'll get a shipment Friday and he'll deliver them to me."
That, he adds, is the kind of experience that users should have when they shop online.
"If I've decided to share my identity and location, the [online store will] greet me by name and tell me that my favorites are on sale. Or it will point out ingredients for that recipe I liked on Epicurean. If they're out of an item, they'll tell me where I can get it or when they can deliver it to me."
Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her e-mail address is sgaudin@computerworld.com .
Read more about web 2.0 and web apps in Computerworld's Web 2.0 and Web Apps Topic Center.