Seems like just another wave of attacks on profit margins across the fruited wave of new Internet business models.
IP is one thing, and extremely competitive. A greater percentage of players have seen and know through years of experience how to stay ahead of this e-game. A telephony warehouse for price comparisons show just about the same model as do the comparison-shopping engines between retailers.
What I wanted to express is this:
These business-models assume that consumers have unprecedented access to product information, which in an every increasing amount is true, same as IP re-sellers.
The consumer to knows because of these new business-models, he holds the upper hand in having retailers fight against each other, demanding lower prices, and still expect exceptional service.
So as with IP Telephony, products will get cheaper, margins will go down, and retail will be a more intense competitive business?
To much so, I think.
I grew a little concerned a few years back considering the success of a few online mediators, but much more so now since the watchword seems to be "deflation", and rightfully so. By that I mean its one thing for IP to have brought down pricing by the minute. But online price-watch-dogs have helped keep the CPIndex at 1.6 last year. Lowest I think since 86 from an article I read.
Good enough, way to go?
Gas is one thing, but when your paying less for TVs, computers, auto parts, telephone minutes, and Asian currency having lowered the cost of imports,........... a glut of inexpensive merchandise, products are stacking up, therefore driving prices down further.
By making it so easy to compare products and prices on-net, the Internet could possibly erase profit margins, this seems to be the trend for IP and other internet related commerce.
Its just a little scarry in trying to figure where all this is going if margins are nil and sometimes even below cost. A company such as Mercata says its goal is to drive margins to zero. They forecast how many consumers will buy a product and then negotiates a volume discount from a manufacturer or distributor before selling the product to its site.
Scarry stuff if you ask me, under-heated inflation. How much cooling of is a good thing short term? How can the smaller guy provide IP services when one day the larger player will give it all away except one? You never know!!
How many IP exchanges are there to compare shop?
How many re-sellers online for price comparison shopping?
You know the IP re-sellers / exchanges, but take a look at a new wave of "margin killers".
acompany.com
mercata.com
respond.com
ewanted.com
imandi.com
epinions.com
deja.com
A very good study on Internet business models once you get past the 3rd page.
stern.nyu.edu
Different opinions? but I don't like what I see long term with these new business-models. Sure it will change the face of the economy both on and offline, but have we really looked down the road far enough before all this really heats up? I think its even more questionable for IP. They'll be giving it away and adding additional features such as a DSL plan with ASP services combined?
The middle-man, he bit the dust? :(
Does anyone think the Internet could one day slap the hell out of biz-norm thinking? What is normal thinking when it comes to the internet? Ha!
hmmmmmm, and wow!!
just a few thoughts,
Temp' |
