Dozens of markets of all types are in the early stages of the revolution, as the Internet and related technologies to expand the range of products which can be produced, promoted and purchased. Although this revolution is based on a simple set of economic and technological drivers, the authors argue that its effects are far-reaching implications for managers, consumers and the economy as a whole. Similar to what has been dubbed the "long tail" phenomenon, the study of how customers get the value of the important characteristics of the Internet market: the ability of online merchants to help consumers find, evaluate and purchase a much wider range of products than they can usually buy with traditional brick-and-mortar channels. The article deals with a long tail on both the supply side and the demand and identifies several key factors. On the supply side, the authors show how advanced, online stores "centralized storage allows more offers, making it possible for them to meet a variety of tastes. On the demand side, tools such as search engines, recommender software, and sampling tools allows customers to find products outside their geographic area. They also look to the future to discuss the second-order effect of increasing the long tail, including the growth of the market serving smaller niches. "Hide
by Erik Brynjolfsson, Yu Jeffrey Hu, Maurice Smith, Michael Smith Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 7 pages. Publication Date: July 13, 2006. Prod. #: SMR215-PDF-ENG
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