Contention1: E-commerce is built to empower physical stores. It simplifies the transaction process and makes it more efficient, thereby facilitating their sales.

Take myself as an example. I'm a lazy boy, and I honestly don't want to go down the stairs to the supermarket next to where I live. No matter how many times my mom shouts at me, saying, "Hey, you know what? If you don't get out of bed and buy the grocery, I'll help you by kicking you out of the window." It's scary, right? But you know what? I won the game. For no reason, I just feel too lazy to go out and pick up stuff myself. And I know there are many other teenagers like me who feel reluctant to go outside. Therefore, the role of e-commerce is to help people who are either busy or lazy to buy groceries, which directly increases the sales of these physical stores.

Contention 2: E-commerce platforms help physical shops reach more customers.

Before the emergence of Reddit or equivalent apps, I could never imagine that there were so many great stores out there. Without them, I would have no information and wouldn't be able to visit any of these stores. Fortunately, now we as consumers can go to unimpressive shops that we used to be unfamiliar with and put our money into their pockets.

Point 3: Online platforms are a backup solution during emergencies.

They not only help the buyers but also the sellers. For instance, during the pandemic when everyone in China was locked at home, thanks to these online platforms, we were able to contact offline stores through the internet and order daily necessities online. Otherwise, we would likely have suffered from hunger at that time.

In conclusion, for the reasons stated above, I believe that the rise of e-commerce can bring more benefits than costs to these brick-and-mortar retail stores.