Did you “celebrate” Black Monday this week? If so, you haveplenty of company; a CareerBuilder survey estimates that 54% of U.S. workers willspend time online at work shopping for the holidays. The practicehas become so entrenched in our society that more than half ofemployers are OK with it, and only 29% of firms block access toonline shopping sites, according to a CIO survey by Robert Half Technology.

As a former eBay addict, Zappos freak and Amazon junkie, I canattest to the joys of online shopping–especially for the, shall wesay, “eclectic” people on my gift list. Where else but online canyou find gifts featuring the Walking Dead, Mystery Science Theater3000 and “Manos: The Hands of Fate” to warm the hearts of thefreaks and geeks in my life?

It's also faster and cheaper to shop online–and those of ustied to a desk all day at our jobs don't have to fight the crowdsor risk getting killed,wounded, Tasered or dragged by a car at the neighborhood Walmart.

'Twasn't always so. Anyone of a certain age—or who's seenthe 1947 “Miracle on34^th Street”—knows that once upon a time, beginningthe Friday after Thanksgiving, the Main Streets in American citiesof all sizes were clogged with shoppers, right up until ChristmasEve.

Remember the district attorney's kid in “Miracle” who whispersto Santa in court that he wants “a real, authentic footballhelmet!”–and his father's rush to buy it before the stores closed?Today, that kid's football helmet would be made in China, boughtonline through Amazon, and delivered by a drone.

In a recent Salon column, Robert Reich looks at how the Amazon culturekills jobs:

Americans are getting great deals online, and they like theconvenience. But there's a hidden price. With the growth of onlineretailing, fewer Americans will have jobs in bricks-and-mortarretail stores.

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Amazon announced last summer it would add 5,000 new jobs to the20,000 it already has. But not even 25,000 Amazon jobs come near toreplacing the hundreds of thousands of retail jobs Amazon hasalready wiped out, and the hundreds of thousands more it willeliminate in the future.

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To put this in some perspective you need to know that retailjobs have been the fastest growing of all job categories since therecession ended in 2009. But given the rapid growth of onlineretailing, that trend can't possibly last. What will Americans dowhen online sales take over?

Another disturbing trend, covered here by an agent blogger awhile back, is the increasinguse of tablets at low-end restaurants like Chili's and Applebee's.Disguised as a user-friendly “convenience,” the tablets allowdiners to play games and oh, incidentally, digitally place theirfood orders. The chain's insistence that the move will not resultin waitstaff layoffs is transparently disingenuous.

These are sobering trends, especially in an economy where mostnew job creation–such as it is–is in service and retail.

To take the discussion a step further: Who will independentinsurance agents place coverage for, if Amazon and the other onlinejuggernauts eliminate the local football manufacturer, the MainStreet sports shop, and the UPS driver? And if the neighborhoodrestaurant (a chain, of course) replaces its workers' comp programwith an extended tablet warranty? If you weigh this trend againstwhat's been happening in the independent agency universe, it hits alittle too close to home.

We're already starting to see some pushback. Walmart,Target and other retailers were slammed with a groundswell ofsocial media blowback when they announced a Thanksgiving Daykickstart to Black Friday. And if Black Friday sales numbers areany indication, their efforts were in vain anyway: though morepeople were out this year, 2013 Black Friday sales were up ameager 2.3%, the weakest result since 2009, according to ShopperTrak.

Economic Darwinism mean that online shopping isn't goingaway. But anyone online can deliver a cheap product for acheap price. Set yourself apart by providing something they can'tget anywhere else–a personal experience. In the case of Christmasgift-giving, that could mean buying tickets to a live show,concert, sporting event or just a dinner out with family to catchup during a hectic time.

Similarly, the holidays can be a great time for independentinsurance agents to stand out from the commodity drivers byproviding your customers not with a product, but with anexperience. Partner with the unique businesses in your community todo something special over the holidays that emphasizes the personaltouch. Get input from your staff on their favorite charities andorganize a food pantry collection, soup kitchen volunteer night orother group event. Glory in your agency's uniqueness and stand outfrom the crowd.

Because I for one don't need another Big Mouth BillyBass.