greg meyers

Ecommerce Software Companies

Coming from a Niche Catalog and E-Commerce oriented background, the online presence of the Vendor/Manufacturer was pretty much non-existent 3-4 years ago. Traditionally, it was the Retailers job to promote the Manufacturers products as best they can and at the same time, maintain some sort of equality with other similar Vendors to provide the very best selection of products to that targeted consumer. You know, put the customer as the #1 priority! Well, as these Manufacturers caught on to the success of Internet Retailers or Internet Divisions, they started to create their own store and pretty much forgot about the people who put them on the map. It's a disturbing trend and it's getting worse.

What's the trend?

The trend is becoming worse by the day for Internet and Catalog Retailers. Manufacturers are not only competing with the Retailers on the Search Engines, they are creating their own online stores that are in direct competition with Retailers. I can go even a little further about it, but I choose not to at this time. So what is happening to the Online Retailer these days?

Hurting the Online customer?

In all of this mess, the customer is the one who suffers. Here's what typically happens. An online prospect does a Google search on a Keyword or product, a Manufacturer's website shows up first and notices an "ADD TO CART" button on the site pricing the item at $19.99. At this point, they are forced to make the purchase because they are unaware of the actual Retailer who stocks and sells the product for much less than the Manufacture's price. This is not only taking sales away from the Retailer, it is confusing the online customer.

In my Opinion

As someone who has seen this trend for the past 5+ years, the only thing I can do is bring a strong awareness to the "corner offices". Is it wrong, YES!. Maufacturer's are starting to get very greedy and realize E-commerce technology is far less expensive than it was 5 years ago. It was the Retailers who dealt with the high startup costs. Manufacturers think they can have their cake and eat it too! It's poor business practices and ethics to allow this to happen. Distributors have spent millions in advertising and salaries over the years to build up their Brand name and now they are just turning their backs on us.

I foresee all Manufacturers will continue to position themselves to sell directly to the consumers and shut out the Online Retailers. They do this, because THEY CAN!

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