

Startup Idea: TailSearch – Search for Retail Stores - kimonos
http://www.abstract-living.com/tailsearch-search-for-retail-stores/

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smt88
This would never work. "Medium-high switching barriers" is a fantasy. The
barriers are insurmountable, and not just because big retailers like to use
in-house technology.

Every retail store is carefully engineered to make you walk around more. They
want you to walk past things you didn't intend to buy and then buy them.

Ever wonder why household necessities are always at opposite back corners of
grocery stores? They want you to spend as much time there as possible and pass
as many shelves as possible.

Yes, there is a "problem" here for consumers, but it's one they will generally
solve by using Amazon or the online pick-up systems that stores already have.
You can already browse the inventory of stores and have your items waiting for
you when you arrive.

Furthermore, because every store creates this problem, no store has an
incentive to fix it.

If Target, for example, were to spend money on "TailSearch" (a LOT of money)
and minorly improve the user experience at the cost of much of their sales
volume, they would be screwed.

And what would the real benefit for the user be? Do you go to stores because
it's easy to find things or because they have what you want at the price you
want?

This is simple technology, and it could easily piggyback on the databases that
tech-savvy companies like Wal-Mart already have. There's a reason they haven't
done anything like this yet.

