Diversify
As someone who would like to think in shades of gray, but can't help herself thinking in terms of black and white, I really want certain rules in life to apply across the board. For example, don't we all hear from financial pundits that we should diversify our investments? Diversifying is supposedly meant to keep our money safe so that stronger funds can support the weaker ones when they're down. So, I would think that the business world would play by this same rule, but apparently not, especially when it comes to online retailers such as Amazon.
Apparently, Amazon has publishers and booksellers "fear[ing] its power", claiming that its business model is " 'predatory' ," according to a recent NPR story. I don't blame them. Who can't attest to falling victim to the ease of Amazon's 1-click purchase? And now, with streaming video, Amazon's added a whole new dimension of temptation in online media shopping- I don't even bother going to iTunes anymore!
I'm afraid, though, that this ease may just be too easy. If smaller vendors are imploding due to the massive reach Amazon has, the online book and video-hawking -not to mention clothes, an myriad other goods you can find on their site- business may eventually strip itself down to one retailer. That's not very diverse now, is it?
Certainly, the online retail industry is incredibly complex, but like I said, I like to think that simple rules tend to be applicable no matter how twisted and gnarly the situation. If Amazon's business model is impeding diversity in the online-retail arena, how sustainable is that?
Today, we have fewer and larger cell phone companies- same with the airlines- and yet people are still out of jobs. So larger doesn't necessarily mean more capacity to employ.
I remember Amazon, originally, as a marketplace where independent book vendors could sell their goods with opportunity for greater consumer exposure. It seems, though, that the Amazon brand, today, has grown much stronger than the presence of its site's vendors, but that's just my impression. Etsy is a good example of the internet marketplace that Amazon used to be, with the emphasis on the independent vendors. And while Etsy is hugely popular, the Etsy brand, if there even is one, doesn't seem to get in the way of the success of the smaller retailers and craftspeople that sell on its site.
So, diversify is the word for today, according to this armchair economist!
