Quote:
Originally Posted by theducks
Look at what happened to Sears (Roebuck). 
The had the Catalog (mail order) sales top spot. They had some of the best quality tools and appliances (some standard brands modified their designs to fit Sears requirements before attaching the Sears branding. Sears had engineers look over the product design and suggest demand, changes)
(Montgomery)Wards stomped them on Phone Catalog orders with the use of technology. No need to detail every aspect of an order. Returning user: Auto filled in (they asked for confirmation on shipping details). Catalog number: They confirmed with the details, asked if color or size.
Sears:every last thing had to be said and confirmed on a phone order.
Sears HAD the product, Warehouses and distribution, including 'Pickup points'
They had their heads buried  and a death grip on the 'old ways'
Same goes for A T&T , nickel and dimeing for any of the bells and whistles or forcing purchase of bloated 'packages' that are standard with other carriers (disclosure: Ducks is a share holder). I finally switched to a Local carrier that provides wired line service (with DSL) for 2x what Ma Bell wanted for just LOCAL calling. (No VM, CID or long distance Toll calling) Ducks is not a heavy phone user, but CID and extended calling is a modern, basic usage.
Amazon (and my ISP) offer what the user wants, and at a fair price. They don't play 'used car salesman' with their customers |
The same thing is going on in the book industry as well. The trad pubs try to stick to the old model and ebooks come along to take a good share of the market over.