Despite Amazon, people like to visit bookshops. On a recent class discussion on the future of Amazon, I had the thought of a new bookstore concept that blends Amazon and the traditional bookstore. I was thinking of creating a physical bookstore that sells paperbacks without stacking any of them on its shelves. The shelves will instead stack thousands of kindles with book titles on them. The kindles will look like physical books using 3D holography. When a customer picks a kindle book to browse, the titles of all the books next to it change to become more relevant to the content browsed.
Because there's no physical paper inventory, there are no sections. The customer types a keyword in a little screen and all the titles near him change. It's like browsing online in a physical space. When the customer decides which books to buy, he places the order, pays and laser printers at the back of the store print out the paperback. Books will be less expensive to buy and the experience of a visit to a physical location preserved. The second-hand bookstore will probably not be able to compete and die.
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Showing posts with label inventory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inventory. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Friday, June 20, 2008
Global Business Inventory Index
This thought was posted on Thinkaloo on 4 April 2008 by member businessmind
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What about a global business inventory index that is reported monthly online? I think this will help everyone know whether a global or national recession is on the way or not. In order to have a sense to predict recession, I use the following simplification: if supply exceeds demand, businesses build excess inventory they then have to sell at discount before they produce more or place more orders.
Therefore, if you knew how total business inventory fluctuates, then you can reliably predict if a recession is on the way and based on the rate of inventory disposal how long it will last. Such knowledge would also help capital to be invested with less risk.
I don't think such knowledge would help avoid recessions caused by financial institutions overextending credit and loosening their lending standards. It can help detect, however, the health of companies and businesses outside the financial sector. They are the main driving force behind economic growth as they are the producers of the goods and services we consume and invest on.
My proposal might be a simplification but I have always wondered. With the multitude of news sources and economists making all sorts of predictions, why can't we have all the numbers reliably concentrated in one source from which the big picture conclusions are drawn first!
When people invest they often ask: "Where should I invest my money?" or "Is it safe to invest my money in this asset or the other?" You rarely hear people asking "What is the state of the global economy?" etc
When global economy goes into recession, however, everyone gets affected and the word "recession" is in everyone's mind. If, at that point, you could get online and check where we stand in the business cycle, wouldn't that help you make more informed business or investment decisions?
Visit www.thinkaloo.com, our new online community where you can share your thoughts and knowledge, discuss your ideas, ask questions and meet smart people
---
What about a global business inventory index that is reported monthly online? I think this will help everyone know whether a global or national recession is on the way or not. In order to have a sense to predict recession, I use the following simplification: if supply exceeds demand, businesses build excess inventory they then have to sell at discount before they produce more or place more orders.
Therefore, if you knew how total business inventory fluctuates, then you can reliably predict if a recession is on the way and based on the rate of inventory disposal how long it will last. Such knowledge would also help capital to be invested with less risk.
I don't think such knowledge would help avoid recessions caused by financial institutions overextending credit and loosening their lending standards. It can help detect, however, the health of companies and businesses outside the financial sector. They are the main driving force behind economic growth as they are the producers of the goods and services we consume and invest on.
My proposal might be a simplification but I have always wondered. With the multitude of news sources and economists making all sorts of predictions, why can't we have all the numbers reliably concentrated in one source from which the big picture conclusions are drawn first!
When people invest they often ask: "Where should I invest my money?" or "Is it safe to invest my money in this asset or the other?" You rarely hear people asking "What is the state of the global economy?" etc
When global economy goes into recession, however, everyone gets affected and the word "recession" is in everyone's mind. If, at that point, you could get online and check where we stand in the business cycle, wouldn't that help you make more informed business or investment decisions?
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