If you haven't heard of Chris Anderson yet, it is worth spending a few minutes to listen to/watch his Ted Talk.
Chris is the editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and has written a book called, "The Long Tail." A synopsis of his book is here.
Basically, here are his points:
--The lower the cost of distribution, the more you can economically offer without having to predict demand;
--The more you can offer, the greater the chance that you will be able to tap latent demand for minority tastes; and
--Aggregate enough minority taste, and you may find a new market (in the long tail).
Because there is more room for more inventory in the online world (as opposed to a retail store with a finite amount of space), the long tail allows internet retailers to cater to a wider variety of tastes.
Do you agree?
Do you see this as a good thing for online retailers?
Do you see other outcomes from this in the online space?
I think this is good for online retailers but wonder if everyone stops concentrating on certain items, everyone will be a one stop shop. This could cause concern for consumers since many companies will stop concentrating on quality and move more towards quantity. Though Amazon seems to have mastered the best of both worlds.
ReplyDeleteI think this has proven to help online retailers but agree with Tyler that I'm not so sure it would work for everyone. Certain companies are never going to be able to expand to this point (and we probably are better off if they don't).
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