ITPEC IP April 2020 Question 88

Enlarging the lineup of products with few sales opportunities and selling them on the website — the long tail strategy.

Plot products by sales in descending order: a few best-sellers form a tall head, and a very large number of niche products, each rarely bought, form a long, low tail. A physical store cannot stock the tail for lack of shelf space, but an online shop has no shelf limit and low inventory cost, so it can offer the tail and let its many small sales add up to a significant share of revenue.

Answer (d)

Why not others:

• •(a) — stocking only the strong-selling products concentrates on the head, the opposite of the long tail; "long duration" refers to the advertising period, not to the tail
• •(b) — advertising long queues and selling for a limited period creates scarcity and a sense of urgency; "long lines" is a play on the word
• •(c) — paying bloggers a share of the sales they bring in is affiliate marketing, here combined with celebrity endorsement

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