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The Long Tail

Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More

By Christopher (NRT), Anderson, Chris/ Nissley, Chris Anderson

(209)

| Audio CD | 9781401384142

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Book Description

What happens when the bottlenecks that stand between supply and demand in our culture go away and everything becomes available to everyone?

"The Long Tail" is a powerful new force in our economy: the rise of the niche. As the cost of reaching consumers drops dramatically, our markets are Continue

What happens when the bottlenecks that stand between supply and demand in our culture go away and everything becomes available to everyone?

"The Long Tail" is a powerful new force in our economy: the rise of the niche. As the cost of reaching consumers drops dramatically, our markets are shifting from a one-size-fits-all model of mass appeal to one of unlimited variety for unique tastes. From supermarket shelves to advertising agencies, the ability to offer vast choice is changing everything, and causing us to rethink where our markets lie and how to get to them. Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it, from DVDs at Netflix to songs on iTunes to advertising on Google.

However, this is not just a virtue of online marketplaces; it is an example of an entirely new economic model for business, one that is just beginning to show its power. After a century of obsessing over the few products at the head of the demand curve, the new economics of distribution allow us to turn our focus to the many more products in the tail, which collectively can create a new market as big as the one we already know.

The Long Tail is really about the economics of abundance. New efficiencies in distribution, manufacturing, and marketing are essentially resetting the definition of what’s commercially viable across the board. If the 20th century was about hits, the 21st will be equally about niches.

Critics

  • The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More By Chris Anderson

    In business, less will be moreThere's a major shift in the way businesses offer their products to the public, according to Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson. His new book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, explores ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Thu, 16 Sep 2010

  • The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More By Chris Anderson

    In this world of broadband connectivity, mainstream isn't mainstream any more there are accessible alternatives everywhere and choice seems infinite. What this means for business and what it says about our culture and the way it's evolving is explore ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Mon, 13 Sep 2010

26 Reviews

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  • 4 people find this helpful

    Long Tail model in T-shirt business

    "The Long Tail" is a book referred by my friend Ricky. I was inspired by the Long Tail theory on the internet business model. Movie (Netflix), book (Amazon) and music (mp3.com) industries have proved survival on the Long Tail theory as aggregrate thrust for the next business wave, shall small entre ... (continue)

    "The Long Tail" is a book referred by my friend Ricky. I was inspired by the Long Tail theory on the internet business model. Movie (Netflix), book (Amazon) and music (mp3.com) industries have proved survival on the Long Tail theory as aggregrate thrust for the next business wave, shall small entrepreneurs can rely on this model?

    The Long Tail, told us the story about 98% of sales can be accomplished in nearly all the available items on the shelves or shopping cart, that prove the market has been transformed into millions of niches.

    Since July I started learning Tai Chi and one of the beauties of this martial art is the power of very small force can move a heavy guy and resist from attack. The magic inside is the accumulation of force from the human being. The Long Tail, also reveal the fact of success from aggregator model, which is quite similar to the Tai Chi theory.

    How about software developer, fashion designer and photographer? Can they become some showcases in the Long Tail model? Two months ago I gave a speech to the Rotary Club of HongKong Sunrise introducing this interesting and controversial topic. I presented a business model of personalized T-shirt printing service in year 2003, with illustrations of how it can be viewed as the Long Tail model.

    In summary, personalised T-shirt model leveraged on the production on-demand, thereby enhancing accumulation of digital arts designs for consumers. The more design templates available, the longer the tail that consumers can reach. By that time I was not aware of the Long Tail model, until I read Chris' book in July 2006. Thanks to Chris, his book organizes the details and prove this inspiring model does really works. There should be more beyond the digital products, and book publishing business will undergo a big revolution too.

    In August I sent an email to Chris Anderson illustrating my experience in T-shirt. Within two hours he replied to me with great appreciation. Communication between authors and readers will be much easier with technology.

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    Mingles said on Nov 1, 2006 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • 2 people find this helpful

    A great book, rich with new ideas and examples. This is one of the few business books worth reading.

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    Franco Folini said on Jul 10, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Let me start by saying something outrageous but heartfelt: I have never read a book on economics as inspiring as The Long Tail. But don't get me wrong - I'm not saying this book is in the league of those paradigm-shifting masterpieces such as Relativity and On the Origin of Species ... (continue)

    Let me start by saying something outrageous but heartfelt: I have never read a book on economics as inspiring as The Long Tail. But don't get me wrong - I'm not saying this book is in the league of those paradigm-shifting masterpieces such as Relativity and On the Origin of Species; I mean this book really makes me look more deeply into the potential power of the Internet. The Long Tail does not describe new economics; rather it describes (and predicts) how the Internet affects (and will affect) the nature of doing business by removing certain physical limits, such as shelf space in retail stores.

    With storage capacity of computer harddrives and cable bandwidth ever increasing and the costs of computers ever decreasing, the Internet will only become more and more powerful in shaping the way we do business. The Long Tail, Web 2.0, mass collaboration - I would even say all these are manifestations of the same thing: the true power of the Internet.

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    Holmes said on May 29, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand

    The long tail is a manual about the way new technologies have changed old economics rules (20% of the products make 80% of the profit), retailing markets, and customers social behaviour.
    In spite of the subject it is extremely enjoyable especially for the practical way of demonstrating its theor ... (continue)

    The long tail is a manual about the way new technologies have changed old economics rules (20% of the products make 80% of the profit), retailing markets, and customers social behaviour.
    In spite of the subject it is extremely enjoyable especially for the practical way of demonstrating its theories by actual examples of l businesses’ developments, i.e. amazon, ebay, wall-mart, myspace, etch
    “The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of “hits” (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail. As the costs of production and distribution fall, especially online, there is now less need to lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all containers. In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly-target goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare.”

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    Barbara ABP said on May 2, 2011 | Add your feedback

  • Anderson makes a valid and interesting argument about a business model that is quickly gaining ground. I only think he could 've made his point in 100 pages, too.

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    Niek said on Mar 11, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

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