> What would you have done if after clicking the ad/link, the page didn't load?
archive.org first just to check if it's down temporarily. But if you're a vendor just reselling Alibaba, then there's not a lot of reason to shop from you. But with real value add, you can get customers. That's exclusive products, support/warranty, niche product, etc beyond just "fulfillment".
There's an entire ocean between Alibaba flippers and strongly branded products sold first-party by mega-corps.
Consider the physical space and walk into a Target or Walmart - how many products on the shelf are Alibaba flips, and how many are sold by the manufacturer? Target has house brands, but Dawn Dish Soap is not one of them. You can get Dawn Dish Soap from most stores - if one day Target was randomly closed are you going to sit out front and wait for them to open, or are you going to another store?
Back in the digital space - let's pick golf... how many websites do you think sell Callaway golf clubs? How many of those websites are the actual manufacturer/brand? One? A google search for "buy golf clubs online" yields probably close to 50 websites just on the first page alone... of which 80% appear to be small businesses.
You start clicking through the search results looking for deals - and some of the pages don't load.
You're telling me you're going to go to archive.org and lookup the history of these random websites, then wait for them to come back online just to see if you want to buy something?
People really don't consider or understand supply chain logistics, distribution and it's relation with retail... people really like to casually wave their hands and assert resellers/distributors have no space in the world, yet they buy products from resellers/distributors every single day without a moment's thought (Target & Walmart!). The "value add" is making desirable products accessible to regular people.
Regular people aren't going to pony up a $75,000 Purchase Order, fill a shipping container, and wait 6-8 months transit just so they can have a new cell phone case or new bookshelf. That's where distribution networks come in handy. We buy the $75,000 container so that you can buy just one item.
I guess we can't really blame people for not understanding this - people rarely understand how their beef and carrots got to the grocery store either.
If Target's website is down for an hour, I'll just wait.
> sit out front and wait for them to open, or are you going to another store?
Many times I've wanted to get something from my preferred grocery store, but they're closed so I... just went a different time.
Most people aren't going to shop a bunch of random websites to buy "Callaway golf clubs". They're going to buy it from Dick's or Amazon. And if those websites are down the moment they check, they'll just wait an hour because it isn't urgent or figure it's a problem on their end.
Fuck, b&h photo takes their website down a whole day every week!
> I guess we can't really blame people for not understanding this - people rarely understand how their beef and carrots got to the grocery store either.
Thanks for the lesson, I learned how smart you like sounding.
> If Target's website is down for an hour, I'll just wait.
>> sit out front and wait for them to open, or are you going to another store?
You were asked if the physical store was closed - because that's the analog you are deliberately overlooking.
> Thanks for the lesson, I learned how smart you like sounding.
Some people unwilling to learn. Even worse, some people insist they understand an entire industry, having spent exactly zero time in that industry. The hubris on display is amazing.
> What would you have done if after clicking the ad/link, the page didn't load?
archive.org first just to check if it's down temporarily. But if you're a vendor just reselling Alibaba, then there's not a lot of reason to shop from you. But with real value add, you can get customers. That's exclusive products, support/warranty, niche product, etc beyond just "fulfillment".