Long Tail
Long Tail is a business model which goes beyond phisical world, it functions in the digital kingdom. Nothing can be touched, tasted or broken. There are no limitations to an entertainment or any other domain whatsoever. The storage is unlimited, the hits are not privileged any more, everysong or film, no matter popular with the millions of people or admired just by a tiny group of fans, can find its audience.
The anatomy of the Long Tail:
Online services carry far more inventory than traditional retailers. Rhapsody for example offers 19 times as songs as Wal-Mart's stock of 39,000 tunes. The total inventory of Amazon.com is 2,3 million books. Netflix has 25,000 dvd's.
The best part about Long Tail is that it doesn't have to sell just the hits like the retail stores or sinemas are obliged to do, because of the shelves limitations and the high rent of the storage. Its audience doesn't have to concentrated in the same town or country, the whole world is its customer.
The customer is a winner too. He doesn't need to go searching for his favourite singer or book everywhere, paying extra just for the fact that his idol happened to be a creator for a rare taste and not for mass consumer. From nowon we don't have to purchase a disc with most of it staffed with so-so songs just to possess a hit which makes us cry. We can buy singles instead of wasting money on the whole package.
It's definately interesting for the suppliers and partners because they don't pay neither for the production nor for the delivery.
The business owner benefits from this business model without dout. There is no phisical storage, the quantities are indefinite, the customer can visit your digital store day and night, 7/24. He can reach his consumer at the opposite side of the planet without any afford.
I would suggest that the customer is obviously a person who is comfortable with computer, knows how to use internet, a person who is curious and has a taste which can't be satisfied by mass production. This customer is looking for something which is rare and different. He doesn't want to waste his money and time on stereotyped music, books or films. There are big numbers of teenagers among Long Tail's clients, because these young people look for different ways of existence and pleasure than their parents' generation.
The revenue sources:
1. Advertising on the site
2.Clients who buy music, films and books
Competitors:
1. Le site de vente par internet de la FNAC
2. La vente sur internet
I think it is unique to the web because the main idea of this business model is to be free from the phisical world with its limitations. The beaty of it is no space needed for the storage, production and delivery. Unlimited source of customers who can get anything they want at any time or geografical location. What can be better then that?
This business model is sustainable. The whole world is going in the direction of saving the planet Earth. In this case we don't consume any raw material, we don't pollute, all the operations happen in the digital world. The tendancy is clear today, the customer wants to purchase anything from the comfort of his home without wasting time and energy.
