Reading Reflection No. 2

Having read the book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson, I have drawn several conclusions, reflecting on the book’s contents. These observations are described below.

The general theme/argument of the book is that there is an extremely large amount of potential (money) in the tail-end of sale distributions. In other words, selling to more niche markets, going beyond that of the mainstream products, can result in great profit. This works, as there are markets that lie outside the reach of existing physical retailers. Internet businesses have expanded markets, even discovering entirely new ones, by reaching niche markets. With the rise of technology, specifically e-commerce alongside the Web, the sheer quantity of different niches allows for demand to follow the supply.

The book, in my opinion, connected with and enhanced what I’m learning in ENT 3003, as it explores the possibilities of businesses outside of the mainstream. The book emphasizes the opportunities available in all aspects of life that may seem beyond the desires of customers, but in reality, there is a market for whatever one wishes to offer. This connects to ENT 3003, as we identified possible business opportunities based on unmet needs, and this book confirms that there is a market for, essentially, anything that we could imagine.

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on this book, the exercise would involve seeking those niche markets. It would be more near the beginning of the semester and act similar to seeking opportunities. It would involve finding niche markets that the student (or others) find appealing and potentially determine ways to expand on those markets. For example, the exercise could include identifying five unique markets outside of the mainstream and describing how one may get in on the profits of those markets.

The biggest surprise or ‘aha’ moment that I experienced when reading the book was that for online retailers, such as Amazon and Netflix, the sales of products that are not offered by brick-and-mortar stores accounted for between a quarter and half of their total revenues. I learned that there is plenty of profit to be made in the niche markets, which I previously thought to be much smaller than in actuality. I expected the majority of profits to come from more mainstream items that would be sought after by presumably more people, but those expectations prove to be less than correct.