Amidst the monotony of the ongoing political banter and the optimism of a growing economy, you may have missed a troubling report coming out of CNN Money.

The report, published just last week, suggests that the American economy may be experiencing the bursting of a retail bubble. Dispute the concept of a retail bubble if you’d like — I think we could agree there has been no boom to set up the burst — but the fact remains that traditional brick-and-mortar retail is struggling.

The article documents disappointing quarterly results from several large retailers, store closures, an underperforming retail organization’s IPO, bankruptcies and more. All juxtaposed with the incredible continued success of Amazon and other online retailers.

There are examples of strong retail stores out there, some of which are also highlighted in the report. Each of those examples has differentiated itself by finding a niche to capitalize on.

And herein lies the challenge to you. What are you doing to differentiate yourself in the marketplace? How do you go about making yourself irreplaceable to your customers and your market?

If, as our industry continues to grow, you think there’s no risk to your business, I want to urge you to think again. The retail business is changing. Our industry is changing. And the business of online retailing, as you can tell by this article, “Amazon is going to sell cars online,” is soon to change even further.

How long it takes before Amazon considers moving into the marine industry, no one knows. But it would be a wise move for you to consider how you would capitalize on your competitive advantage under such circumstances. Begin today by defining how you currently differentiate your business and how you should further differentiate.

In the end, we can either evolve or stay the same. Amazon’s success has come at the expense of industries that have chosen to stay the same.