Tuesday, February 03, 2009 10:02 PM
by
dsumner
Revisiting the Long Tail & Woolworths
Opportunity is all around. Perhaps some might call me crazy for stating that but wherever change occurs in a market, opportunity is also created.
Recent changes in our economy have been so great that it has caused business leaders to consider the situation to be a reset not just a recession. You can see this commentary by Tom Peters on his blog here.
If we are talking about a reset, then we we need to revaluating our tactics and strategies. Whatever you plan was, whatever you metrics were, its highly likely that you need to revisit them. That applies in virtually every personal and commercial plan you have, from home ownership to company floatation.
Thinking about this made me want to revisit a few key publications that have appeared in recent years.
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
The long tail is about how endless choice has the ability to provide to generate huge demand, that the world is no longer focused on popularity ( remember when Top of the Pops mattered?) but on endless niches. Hits still matter, but there is a lot going on in the tail.
The concept of the long tail was easy to apply to books,DVDs and Music. But the use of the tail is appearing in other markets too, in particular foods (organic and gourmet products), clothing (vintage and custom clothing), even in brewing (micro brewers & distribution).
Even content itself can be exposed in the long tail, take a look at Guy Kawasaki and Alltop.com. So what does this mean?
1) a diverse inventory matters
2) exposing that inventory matters
3) customer experience matters
4) Having a brand that is known and trusted matters.
While the sad demise of Woolworths recently filled the media. Perhaps what it is less well known is how the brand has been bought by and will now appear as an online brand.
In the physical world Woolworths was always the place you thought “there is a good chance I might find it there”. Well, an online Woolworths undoubtedly has the potential to provide the same consumer experience, yet with an infinite amount of shelf space and inventory, it really can meet a very broad range of consumer queries.
Woolworths may well have a very prosperous future in the long tail.
