Amazon's time will come, but right now they, or perhaps just Bezos - who knows, don't believe it will. Yes, I think that sums it up nicely. History is full of

Amazon's time will come, but right now they, or perhaps just Bezos - who knows, don't believe it will. Yes, I think that sums it up nicely. History is full of big businesses that were invulnerable and could get away with anything, until they weren't and couldn't. History is also full of big businesses whose senior management seemed to be the last people in the world to realise when one situation was slowly but steadily turning into the other, often because they were focussed on short term plans and quarterly reports and somehow failed to see the wood for the trees. Boss: Look, revenues are way up! Q4 last year was huge! Best. Christmas. Season. Ever. Consultant: That's true, and congratulations. But be careful, the majority of your recent growth looks like it comes from segments outside your core online store business. Boss: I know. Isn't that great? Our retail marketplace services are making twice what they brought in just a couple of years ago! Consultant: That's also true, but it does seem the customer experience of your online store has been adversely affected because the marketplace aspect is confusing them and causing problems with poor quality control and fake products, and that online store still brings in the largest part of your revenues. Boss: Experience, exshmerience! Look at our quarterly numbers. Our main online store is still growing. Consultant: Well, yes, the main online store is still growing. However, it's been close to saturation in a lot of markets for a while. Part of that revenue growth is because you've been relying less on undercutting the competition and started pushing prices up. But that leaves you more vulnerable to competition again. Boss: Well, it looks like our customers love us and they'll keep coming back anyway. Consultant: Perhaps, but consumer shopping habits often change slowly. Brand loyalty is slow to build, and that goes for your competitors too. But it's built by good customer experiences, and sometimes lost all too quickly after bad ones. Boss: As I said, experience, exshmerience. Look, revenues are way up! Q4 last year was huge!