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by: Strategic Profits97
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The new Face of Consumerism: Relevance vs. Proximity
For many years, the primary factor for consumers in deciding where to spend your money was proximity: how close each store was to where you lived. Two hundred years ago, there would be only one store within a day’s wagon ride, and that was your only choice for where to buy your goods. As time went on, more stores were built and transportation became more sophisticated, so consumers had more choices as to where to shop and they could choose a store based on relevance: which best suited their needs or provided the best service. However, they were still limited to stores that were located within a reasonable driving distance from their home, and proximity often won out over relevance.
Today, the Internet allows us to shop all over the world with the click of a mouse button. We can find the best price for the product we need and buy it, whether it is just down the street, across the country or across the world. The only difference is the amount of time it takes to ship your purchase to you, and even this can be mitigated by spending a few more dollars for expedited shipping. Relevance has replaced proximity as the deciding factor in where to shop.
How Relevance vs. Proximity Changes Business
This new model of choosing relevance over proximity is good for consumers in the same way it is hard on business: it creates more competition, which means each business has to get better and better in order to keep its customers. Your company will have to find ways to offer things no one else does so customers have to come to you to get them. Thanks to the Internet, customers from all over the globe are able to find you to take advantage of your unique offerings, so your potential customer base is much wider than it was twenty years ago.
The problem with doing business on the Internet is that it is a double-edged sword. While you get more exposure on the Internet to find more customers from around the world, you are also exposed to all of your competitors. If you are offering something unique, it will not take them long to discover it and copy you so you are no longer a stand-out. Of course, you can work that to your advantage by copying other businesses, as well. This never-ending cycle ensures that products and services are always improving. If you do not grow and change with your competitors, you will be left behind. You will no longer be relevant.
Every time the business world changes, there are good and bad sides to each change. The Internet made customers and companies more accessible to each other, which increased competition and made relevance a more important factor than proximity. Businesses must always keep this in mind to remain successful.
About Strategic Profits:
Strategic Profits is a privately held company headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla. Strategic Profits exists to help business and entrepreneurs online and offline with business coaching advice and tools that they need to succeed in the Attention Age. Visit the corporate Web site www.strategicprofits.com for more information or leave your questions and/or comments on Rich Schefren's blog at www.strategicprofits.com/blog. To download, the free report this article is referencing visit, http://www.strategicprofits.com/newrules.