Catalogue & Home Shopping: A Great Idea Just Got Better.

Ever had a great idea?

Of course you have. Can anyone have a great idea? Of course
they can. Can those ideas be profitable? Clearly this is
also possible, although profitable ideas rely on many
factors before they earn that title. Profitable ideas that
turn into successful businesses however, depend on many
contributing factors such as great products, great quality,
great prices, great timing and ultimately, old fashioned
good luck. But without doubt, the number one contributing
factor in turning a great idea into a profitable idea is:
Customers.

Without customers you have no business, it's that simple

Don't be fooled though, because even businesses with
customers aren't guaranteed profit or success. So, taking
this idea a step further, a successful business requires
happy, satisfied, and for continued success, repeat
customers. The key is satisfied customers. As the song
goes, "you've got to keep the customers satisfied"

Any company that doesn't keep its customers satisfied is
going to struggle, and this fact has never been more
relevant than in online or internet retailing.

Retail businesses of yesteryear have the same demands
placed upon them today as they had when they were first
established, whether they're fifteen or fifty years old.
They still have to fend off competition, they have to stay
fresh, they have to predict exactly what the customer wants
or needs and they have stay on their toes in terms of
trends and fashions. Clearly this is always going to be a
tall order for any business and history is littered with
casualties to prove the rule.

In retailing terms, the long established Catalogue and Home
Shopping companies have been very well run operations, and
for many this still holds true today. The challenge for
these long established companies though, is in their
ability to adapt to the demands of a very different
retailing environment. Today's customers still have the
same demands, but they now have a huge choice laid out
before them.

In today's marketplace, a great idea can be turned into a
very profitable business in a matter of weeks thanks to the
internet. A very astute retailer can establish an online
presence and customer awareness in a matter of months,
where the same presence and awareness would once have taken
years prior to the existence of the internet.

The ace up the sleeve for Catalogue and Home Shopping
retailers is that they already have infrastructures in
place to support their businesses. They already have
impressive purchasing power as well as warehousing and
delivery networks and they already have attractive credit
facilities. These are huge costs to absorb if you don't
have them, but great assets if they exist.

Sure, Catalogue and Home Shopping companies may have
arrived a little late on the online scene and maybe they
don't have the glamour or buzz that surrounds some of the
really big internet only retailers, but make no mistake,
the really switched on Catalogue and Home Shopping
retailers who do establish a credible online presence can
look forward to unparalleled growth. They simply need to
build on their hard earned strengths.

Highlighting the challenges for Catalogue and Home Shopping
companies is all well and good, and I'm sure they're aware
of the challenges themselves, but what does it all mean to
you and me?

Well for one thing, the internet has given long established
retailers a well deserved kick up the backside. They now
have to come up with bright ideas at a pace that they never
thought possible. They now have to innovate at the same
pace or faster as their internet only counterparts. In
short they have to re-invent and re-present themselves to a
whole new online audience to stay in the game.

As a customer, I want to see as much competition as
possible both online and off, because competition will
undoubtedly result in brighter ideas, greater innovation,
better offers, more choice and better service. As great
ideas go, the internet is a tough one to beat. Long live
the great idea.

As always, Happy shopping.

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