Is 2012 the year e-commerce “eats the world”?

Image via CrunchBase

Today, Shopify’s CEO Tobias Lütke tweeted “10% of all sales are now on mobile devices and tablets,” which is an impressive statistic in and of itself. It makes you wonder, at what rate we can expect that percentage to increase in 2012?

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape Communications, thinks the smartphone boom in 2012 is going to give e-commerce its biggest boost yet, but not without completely disrupting handfuls of traditional verticals:

It’s just on and on and on across different verticals because of the number of consumers who a) have PCs, b) are on the Internet, and now c) have smartphones. I expect vertical specialization to continue and there to be killer Silicon Valley style software companies in all kinds of verticals and categories in 2012 and 2013 that weren’t viable three or five years ago.

Andreessen has been quoted recently as saying that software in general is “eating the world“, but in particular he sees the increase in smartphone usage and online shopping taking big dents out of a few verticals in particular:

I think 2012 is the year that retail–retail stores–really starts to feel the pressure. And I don’t say that because I don’t like retail stores. I loved going to Borders. I thought it was a great consumer experience. And I was a huge fan of Tower Records.

But the economic pressure is huge as e-commerce gets more and more viable and as these category killers emerge in the superverticals. If I own mall real estate or retail stores in cities, or if I own chains like electronics chains, I’d be concerned…. I think electronics and clothes are going to be a real pressure point. Home furnishing is going to come under pressure. It’s going to get harder and harder to justify the retail store model.

Andreessen’s assertions certainly have validity after seeing the steady growth year-over-year of e-commerce, particularly during the holiday season.

Do you think 2012 will see e-commerce “eating the world”, or at least disrupting a few new verticals?