College student with interest in ecommerce?
4Sometimes I get contacted by college students who have been led to believe I had or have important ecommerce ideas. It was certainly enjoyable back in the day when we heard of economics professors using the Woot model as a teaching aid - maybe there's some residual of this going on still today.
Usually, after significant procrastination, I feel compelled to deliver what seems like a depressing perspective. I thought maybe it'd be informative to post one here. Perhaps I can expand on my simplistic replies and provide more value. I don't mean this to be defining on what sort of retail models we will do under the Mediocre umbrella, but rather a more narrow statement for ambitious entrepreneurs/students.
here's a specific exchange I replied to this morning:
Hey Matt, I'm a student and entrepreneur at [University of X] - I'm quite interested in ecommerce and was wondering if you had a moment one of these days if you wouldn't mind telling me your story and how you've become somewhat of an ecommerce legend.
Hope to hear from you!
-X
(easy on the ego to get these of course) my reply:
Hi X. Thanks for reaching out and for the nice words. In a nutshell, my background is on the wholesale side and I don't like conventional retail. My ideas are based on an assumption that retailers add very little value and should minimize their presence. In this way I'm actually more anti-ecommerce and I enjoy maintaining a skeptical perspective of retail metrics and consumer marketing.
There are some consumers who gravitate towards this as a form of honesty. I'm very pleased to have found this niche. Ironically, they are a demographic that can be marketed to. In this little niche I'm a reluctant retailer.
I have no idea what sort of picture is painted of ecommerce from an academic perspective. Maybe you'll find professors who can help you appreciate value in the industry.
It's not like I feel any obligation to support the ecommerce industry by telling people it's a great career.... but should I? Am I being too cynical?
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When I was still in the nonprofit sector, I would shatter college interns/volunteers hearts and dash dreams pretty regularly with the complexity and frustration that's inherent with social work. I think it's a milestone of becoming a professional when you realize that adulthood (and work in general) isn't quite the rainbow-scented unicorn farts that you may have come to believe in your naivety or been led to believe by mentors.
Maybe I'm just cynical too, but I think the most rewarding and productive work comes from those who accept that there will be frustrations to overcome in order to achieve their goals and who don't solely find purpose in their careers (and subsequently burn out).
I think you're being too cynical about the value, but I agree about minimizing their presence. Consider pre-Amazon Woot, Amazon.com proper, and beer distributors.
First, beer. There are a lot of blue laws out here in the Northeast. In NJ, all alcohol is sold in liquor stores. No beer in gas stations. No wine in the grocery store. No hooch at the Kwik-E-Mart. If you want to self-medicate, you need to visit the liquor store, which probably isn't open on Sunday. Pennsylvania is even stricter. All wine and spirits are sold by state owned & operated stores. If you want beer, you need to go to a beer distributor. Conveniently, they're as common as a liquor store. Inconveniently, they only sell beer and only by the case. Who's going to spend $40 on a case of unfamiliar microbrew? I would, but most wouldn't; the distributor just won't carry it. There's value to the consumer when the retailer assumes some of that risk and lets me spend $10 to try a six-pack.
Amazon provides that value, and adds in tons user reviews, and speedy shipping. Both of those save me time and money. Woot provided better prices and had it's own form of user feedback, but it was at the expense of selection, speed, and returns. It's got its niche, but most people value the convenience of retail (returns, selection, low quantity purchases, one-stop shopping) more than you are letting on in your response.
@fgarriel thanks, nice to have the value pitch. I do think that local stores with inventory are inherently more valuable than ecommerce stores. They've performed "pre-logistics" for me that is of clear value and they have greater risk/reward scenarios for doing so.
With regards to ecommerce, my problem is that the leverage consumers grant a retail platform when they do one-stop shopping there is disproportionate to the value they are getting. The retailer is extracting more margin and exclusivity than it should be from the manufacturer with a low cost of providing value to the consumer. Obviously many investors think this is great and it's why they are such fans of Amazon. Long term I view this imbalance as inherently evil and prone for disruption - over time, ala carte services will win and more and more manufacturers will sell direct. On the internet, people should buy direct.
So I started typing some arguments, and kept finding too many flaws. Ultimately, I decided this presents an opportunity.
The problem with buying direct is that I have no place to immediately comparison shop. There's a ladle ready to be dipped in the rivers of commerce for the people who want to design/build/market a drop-ship amazon competitor. Perhaps that's what wayfair.com and others already are, but they're doing it wrong. I need the manufacturers you're partnered with to comply with higher, (mostly) uniform standards on customer policy.
As a consumer, I want the backing of a quasi-retailer who has real clout with a manufacturer to see to it that any serious claims I have are resolved.
bingo - I'm in this exact mindset. I think there needs to be a service providing manufacturer-direct aggregator.
I think you and your team have a great vision. What I like is that you guys cut out the bullshit and find ways to make things fresh.
In a Marketing class I took last semester they mentioned Woot in a section about daily deals. It mainly talked about Groupon, and only gave Woot a passing mention (which annoyed me). I got to speak up and say that I used to work there, but no one cared.
sweet - I'll take a passing mention given their billion spent on marketing to our zero :)
And you talk to your customers like they're people, not a source of revenue. I appreciated that about Woot (in the good ole days)
I always thought that the ideas in this thread were spot on: build a competitive moat through exclusivity, credibility, and community.
http://deals.woot.com/questions/details/c6bf01fa-a30a-466b-8cd1-fcd33772ae5d/what-is-woots-strategy-on-local-woot