It looks like the dirt world (think Wal-Mart) suffered a set-back last week. As the world's largest retailer, the superstore giant is used to getting its own way, but in California last week a group of citizens and small business retailers, accompanied by residents and religious leaders, threw a rock in Wal-Mart's plans to build a superstore in a suburb of Los Angeles, causing a stubbed toe--at the very least.

Before we look further into what this might mean to online retailers, let's agree on a few important things:

1. More women than men shop at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart, as I noted in my book, is a familiar place to shop for all age groups (and genders) and because it offers food, clothing, automobile supplies, and consumables, all in one place, it gets a lot of traffic. Women like this. And, with its Everyday Low Prices, it lures us into believing we're getting a deal. (not enough room here to dispute that fact...but trust me, Wal-Mart's deals are not saving consumers anything.)

2. Women influence or purchase more than 85% of the goods and services in this country. Wal-Mart was a favorite place to buy goods in the old Dick and Jane century. It was familiar and comfortable. But, with time becoming a commodity these days, women are turning to online shopping--an easy and convenient method to get what they want and need.

3. The Every Day Low Price issue is slowly being replaced by the "how good is your customer service?" issue and the "how easy is it to return this item?" issue. In my experience, Wal-Mart, despite its friendly commercials on TV, does not get high marks in these categories. Online merchants, having learned their lessons over the last three or four years, are definitely getting it.

Now, back to the little LA suburb of Inglewood, CA. What happened there last week is a tremendous boost for online shopping. On the surface, one might presuppose that it benefits only those retailers in the immediate area, the ones who snubbed their noses at the retail giant's offer of more jobs and community involvement. Choosing to maintain control of their community, the citizens of Inglewood, CA (a community of 113,000, mostly black and Hispanics) played David to Wal-Mart's Goliath, and they set an example for all communities, everywhere in the U.S.

More importantly, the NY Times reported that "[Wal-Mart] may have to give up on Los Angeles, which may ban megastores. Other communities can also be expected to be emboldened by Wal-Mart's setback. In the end, people may love low prices, until they take a closer look at the real costs."

The real costs of having a super Wal-Mart in your area are in the low-paying jobs--making me wonder how much those spokespeople in the Wal-Mart commercials get paid; poor health benefits; increased traffic; and the invasion--yes, invasion--of those everyday low prices. When Wal-Mart enters a community, the little Mom and Pop stores go out of business. Inglewood, CA said no. And in that no, it opened the door for online merchants to become more successful.

Because, all of those Mom and Pop stores, all of the religious leaders who objected to Wal-Mart's intrusion into their territory, all the business leaders and union reps, can now use the Internet to drive traffic to their community stores and businesses. Give women the option to shop online, offer us your best deal, your best customer service, a return policy that lets us shop online, but return offline, and a little bit of creativity, and we will forsake Wal-Mart.

It's a hankering for a return to our roots. In Englewood, the blacks and Hispanics showed pride in their self-worth. The women in those groups are strong supporters of each other, and of their culture. It behooves all of us to take a closer look at the message the citizens of this one small community were sending to the world. To me, the message was this, "We don't want a big corporation deciding how our community looks and we certainly don't want a big corporation making our shopping decisions for us."

They said it loud and clear.

I say, good for them. And good for us. Because the Internet does not impose the restrictions a super Wal-Mart imposes. It supports what the Mom and Pop stores are already doing, and it makes shopping a simple, enjoyable, convenient task. The Internet allows women to browse-- through their browser-- then shop with their feet, if they choose. This saves time and money because they already know what they want when they get to that dirt world store.

By using your online presence to drive traffic offline, you make the sale-- we come in for the item we saw online--but you also have the opportunity to upsell us once we get into the store. The ramifications are enormous. Make my shopping easy and convenient, and I will give you my business. Treat me well, and I will share my experience with others. Instead of competing with Wal-mart, focus on giving me what I want--and I will return for more of it, again and again.

Inglewood, CA proved that the days of the mega-stores are numbered. The Internet is bigger and better than any of them. And, it continues to attract women in greater numbers every year. Learn how to get personal with them. Visit a few of the links on the left hand column of this blog. You won't find better informaton anywhere else.

What's not to like about that?