Ecommerce in Reverse

The Internet's ecommerce model is currently business-centric. Consumers are expected to remember their favorite websites and use those websites to purchase or otherwise interact.

Soon, ecommerce will be consumer-centric. Why should a user have to tell a website that they already purchased the product they are recommending from a competitor? Why should consumers have to create multiple accounts, multiple wish lists, multiple gift recipient lists, and multiple purchase histories? Consumer preferences will eventually carry from one site to the next, putting the consumer in charge of their own data, sharing data where they choose.

Eventually, consumers' data will have a value that websites will pay the consumer to share. Past purchase history, preferences, and wish lists will belong to the consumer, and websites will use this data to customize their sites to the consumer's preference.