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Your high street on the information superhighway

The world has been shrinking for centuries.

It started about the time Christopher Columbus taught us we could sail around it, then the invention of the telephone meant we could speak to people across the country, and then across the continent, and now the internet has enabled us to conduct real-time business with anyone, anywhere on the planet.

But what of those that don't want to shop in Brazil? And do we really want to buy our flowers from Australia?

Trans-global business is no doubt a saviour for many businesses, rescuing some and opening up unlimited new opportunities for others.

For most of us, however, it's all a bit much. And now the big online players are picking up on the fact that once the novelty of it all has worn off, when we're ready to spend our money, we'd sooner do so in our own back yard.

This realisation has led to the new Local brands: Yahoo Local, Google Local, and so on. They are mini search engines concentrated on your location, like being given your local phone book in place of a giant list of every existing telephone number. So there's less nonsense to trawl through, great for your average internet user, but what does that mean for your average florist?

It puts them back on the map, because the map is centred on them. Use a regular search engine to look up florists and you will find the big names and brands, but use a Local search engine and you'll find shops on your high street.

This level playing field could be the all important differentiation in the future of online business. It could mean that big e-brands don't kill the bricks and mortar shops like we feared they might.

Now fully launched in the US and Canada, the Local search engines are still in development in the UK. Over in the States, Google has already incorporated maps to direct shoppers to stores and there's a slimmed down version which can be used on mobile phones.

Essentially, you can be standing in the high street when you remember you need a florist, turn on your phone and be directed to your nearest shop. By storing your location, your computer can tailor the internet around you.

The world may be a vast and interesting place, but it no longer needs to clutter our everyday internet use. And with this comes benefits to the high street florist, something the big, countrywide names can't change.

Still in its early stages, we can only speculate where the technology may lead, but we can be confident that the local florist will become as prominent as the national retailer again, and the internet will soon become the friend, rather than the feared foe.