In the old world, when you went out grocery shopping, you told the shopkeeper what you wanted and then he would go and get it. He would stock everything he knew you are going to need, and wait for you to drop in when you need replenishment.
In the old world, auto and taxi drivers waited at the corner of the road for passengers who they knew would turn up to hail them. Or they would roam around empty on the roads they knew there was going to be demand.
In the old world, book stores stocked books, and readers would walk in and look through the aisles to find an interesting read. The book owner knew what sells, so would stock what he knew is going to be fast-moving.
In the old world, cinema halls ran a few shows with the latest movies and waited for cine-goers to drop in based on a promo or a trailer.
I don’t need to tell you how we do grocery shopping or how we book cabs or how we buy books or how we watch movies in the new world. We go to Google, or Amazon, or Big Basket or Netflix or whatever and search.
No single maker or retailer is pushing us to buy something. But these platforms are pulling us in. And how! That is the reality.
What this implies for makers or creators is that the old world of opening up your dukaan and waiting for customers to drop in is gone. Our old world habits won’t go away easily. But realizing the reality of the new world might help creators to adopt newer strategies.
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