ITPEC FE Morning April 2019 Question 73
Which of the following is a description of the long tail?
Explanation
Many slow-selling products adding up to a share of sales that cannot be ignored — that is the long tail of Internet retail.
Plot products by sales in descending order: a few best-sellers form a tall head, and a very large number of niche products form a long, low tail. A physical store cannot stock the tail for lack of shelf space, but an online shop with no shelf limit and low inventory cost can, and the tail's combined sales become a significant part of the total.
Answer (d)
Why not others:
- •(a) — placing a link to a company on a website or blog and receiving a referral fee for purchases is affiliate marketing
- •(b) — selling on one's own site while the manufacturer or wholesaler ships directly, so no stock is held, is drop shipping
- •(c) — integrated management and delivery of the text and images that make up web content is a CMS (Content Management System)
Key rule: The long tail reverses the Pareto view: online, the many minor items together can rival the few best-sellers.
Business Industry · AI-written, may contain errors
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