Urszula Świerczyńska-Kaczor
The Future of The Internet Selling - e-commerce or vw-commerce?

The author of the article argues that virtual world's commerce (vw-commerce) could gradually replace traditional e-commerce with 2-dimentional web-sites. The following aspects of virtual worlds' role in Internet selling are discussed:

• the large diversity of virtual worlds and their products,
• the changes in on-line selling environment attributed to the implementation of commerce in virtual worlds,
• the barriers to further development in vw-commerce.

Virtual worlds' shops exist within a 'closed' Internet space or as an element of virtual economy in on-line Massively Multiplayer Games (such as Second Life or There - 'open world'). The analysis of vw-commerce, illustrated mostly with examples from Second Life, indicates the following key features of vw-commerce:

• communication based on 3-dimentional avatars,
• the wide variety of communication tools embedded in virtual worlds (including voice product's presentation),
• possibility to communicate 'one to many' or 'one to one' in real time or off-line,
• making products interactive to customers,
• adjusting the selling environment to the customer's individual needs,
• creation of the environment enhancing customer's intention to buy,
• user friendly process of purchase,
• virtual world Customer Relationship Management,
• in-world currency (exchangeable to American Dollars in Second Life).

Hitherto most companies operating both in traditional and the virtual market apply virtual worlds as their promotion tools and customers are redirected from virtual world to traditional web-sites in order to complete the transaction. There are examples of selling 'real' products (such as language lessons, law advices) in virtual worlds, demonstrating that vw-commerce is convenient and a customer friendly way of purchasing products (especially services and digital products). The author indicates the main difficulties with the implementation of virtual worlds as a selling platform - they lie in technological barriers, unclear law regulations, doubts about the safety of transactions and a lack of integrity between different virtual worlds. In conclusion the author argues that vw-commerce has the potential to change on-line shopping.