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The Future of Commerce

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Age of the Choiceboard by A.J. Slywotzky

Customers become product makers

The coming dominance of Choiceboards

information collection devices and customer relationship builders

Dell, Mattel, Schwab, Chipshot.com

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Who will Control the Choiceboards

A.J. Slywotzky forsees three types of competitors vying for the early control

individual manufacturer or assembler (Dell or Schwab)

consortium of existing manufacturers (MetalSite launched by metals producers)

New intermediary (Point.com)

4

War of the Choiceboards

According to A.J. Slywotzky, the victors will be those with

the best-designed choiceboards

the most responsive supplier networks

the closest customer relationships

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Patterns of Disruption in Retailing

by C.M. Christensen & R.S. Tedlow

Essential mission of retailing Product, price, place, and time

Disruptive technologies department stores; mail-order catalog;

discount stores, internet retailing

Profits determinants margin and inventory turnover

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Earlier Retailing Disruptions

Department stores served as the portals of their day

Catalogs were an early equivalent of today’s virtual department stores

Malls were a sustaining innovation; discount stores were a disruptive innovation (different business model)

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Upending the Discount Stores

Department stores became retailers of soft goods (i.e. products whose key attributes are more complex and harder to communicate) to maintain the higher margins.

Most of the surviving discount stores have followed the similar path.

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Repeating Patterns?

How should we expect the revolution to evolve?

generalist to specialist

upmarket momentum from simple merchandise to

complex products

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Hypermdeiationby N. G. Carr

Transactions over the Web involve all sorts of intermediaries.

A future of “hypermediation” Volume and efficiency

Two Profitable intermediaries owners of content sites infrastructure company

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What is Choiceboard

Choiceboards are interactive, on-line systems that allow individual customers to design their own products by choosing from a menu of attributes, components, prices, and delivery options.