5 Ways That 3-D Printing is Going to Shake Up Retail

As the founder of a large online retailer and lifelong participant in the industry, I think this shift in producing power and the method by which products are made will transform retailers in five key ways:

1. Cheap and easy-to-print products will see reduction in sales. Perhaps most obvious, retailers selling products that are cheap and easy to print at home (i.e., those that are small, simplistic and made of plastic) will be most vulnerable to the reduction of their market. Retailers selling large and bulky items — and those selling items made of materials more difficult to 3-D print — have less to worry about, and will continue to take advantage of mass-production cost efficiencies to maintain relevance.