Online Storefronts

Engadget asks what works.  We examined this almost a decade ago.  I thought about it for a real application.  Was there a requirement, or any value in mimic-ing a real life storefront to make them work?  I virtually watched as IBM and several retailers spent time working on this problem in environments like 'Second Life', but eventually abandoned the idea.  Was anything learned there?  Engadget here asks for current approaches.