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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark Fowler who wrote (4452)	5/18/1998 12:39:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Glenn, didn't mean any disrespect. I apologize if you took it that way. Mark, No apology necessary but thank you any how. How you can separate the brand name from the product is beyond me. I will try and explain this later when I have time. I hope I can make sense<G> Glenn

To: Mark Fowler who wrote (4452)	5/18/1998 12:55:00 PM
From: Oeconomicus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Mark, you missed the point about brand loyalty. I prefer Coke over Pepsi and will even pay a little more for it, but I don't care where I buy it. Likewise, readers may be "loyal" to an author or a particular genre, but they may or may not care where they buy the next book. Now, if you want to argue loyalty to one retailer over another, you need to make a case for why book buyers might prefer AMZN over the competition. To continue with your Coke vs. Pepsi analogy, I usually buy Coke at Kroger, but I also shop at Harris-Teeter and A&P. There are several factors that determine which store I choose including price (on a basket of goods or one particular product), selection, service, convenience, and others. What is your case for loyalty to AMZN's "store" as a brand over that of BKS, BGP or anyone else? BTW, being the first store in the neighborhood may result in some loyalty from early customers (a few people still shop at the Winn-Dixie here), but others will switch to the new store down the street because it is cheaper, provides better selection or service, or other reasons. More importantly, people new to the neighborhood have no loyalty to the one who was here first. In AMZN's case, as the digital neighborhood grows and more people go shopping in the neighborhood, being there first will matter less and less. Consider also that your new digital neighbors may have certain "brand" loyalties from their old neighborhood. When I moved here, I went to Kroger first because that was the chain I knew best and was most satisfied with from my former home. Likewise, aren't book buyers who are new to the digital neighborhood likely to shop at the bookseller they are familiar and happy with? In a sense, AMZN is like the single location, independent store that thrived when they were the first store in a new neighborhood. Will they do so well when the bigger, deeper pocketed chain stores are open for business just across the street with lower prices, broader selection and familiar names? Home Depot's moved to town. Poor ol' Fred's Hardware. Fred's a nice guy and he just opened his store two years ago, when the first big subdivision went in, but that Home Depot is gonna kill him. OK, maybe he won't go out of business, but he sure ain't gonna grow like he thought. An' he just bought a new house and a boat thinkin' he was gonna get rich 'cause the neighborhood was growin' so fast. Glad I'm not his lender. Regards, Bob