My family owns a small corner store located in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan. Our store has been servicing our community for the past 40 years, and my family has experienced many different trends within those years. There was a time when we covered an entire wall with an inventory of magazines, ranging from gossip, to cars, to video games, etc.
We were also known in our community for selling a wide variety of newspapers. Our top sellers were the Daily News, New York times, and, New York Post. On a regular week, my store would sell 1000 copies of each of these papers (100 copies for Monday through Friday, and 400 copies on Sundays). I was in my early teens when my store sold these papers at these quantities, however, we noticing a very interesting trend since then. As the years went by, we noticed that there was a gradual decline in the demand for our magazines and newspapers from our customers. And in recent years, we noticed a significant decline. One day, out of curiosity, I asked one of my customers why he stopped buying newspapers from my store. He responded by saying “I get it on my iPad now.” Then, it all made sense. Why would someone want to purchase a hard copy of a newspaper or magazine when they can easily get a subscription on their tablet/computer/laptop?
This trend inspired me to create a Facebook page for my family’s store, which has been featured in a couple of newspaper articles. I have attached the link below.
This is a great example of how technology and globalization are changing todays business practices. The interesting (and very scary) truth is that this online marketplace revolution is happening in every industry you look. Whether it be movies, books, shoes or even used cars, there is no longer much reason to hold an actual inventory of what your business intends to sell. It’s changing from “I have that in stock” to “I can have that in your hands in three business days”. While the efficiency increases (having a buyer for a product before investing anything)and risks decrease (unsold items hogging capital, space and may depreciate) this all begs to question if all small businesses can remain to survive and collect profit? Or will it only be survival of the biggest fittest businesses that can sell for the lowest price?