How many interesting online alternatives are there to the already established catalog and shopping models?
This is a question we seriously asked ourselves a good five years ago, at a time when nobody was talking about Woot!, Vente-Privée, Etsy or Polyvore. And then tried to answer this question with a good, no, massive dose of brainstorming. From that exercise, Exciting Commerce (and much more) was born.
At the start we would have been happy just to have come across 100 alternative shopping models. But quickly we had to accept that there are by far many more. At the end, our list encompassed far beyond 1000 ideas, everything from A to Z.
We can recommend such a brainstorming for any and all who have a penchant for alternative business models. It’s not only a good thought exercise in general, but it also opens the eyes to the huge unexploited potential in e-commerce.
It helps to work closely with name associations. Excluded are invented words and coined phrases such as Luupo, Threadless, A Better Tomorrow, etc. Instead general or category terms such as “Bazaar”, “Club”, “Loop”, “Portal”, or “World” can be searched in combination with other words which may indicate a type of product or target group. Both English and German words can be used. Singular and plural variants count only once.
The first 100 shopping alternatives are relatively difficult to find. But as you reach the 100 mark, the dam starts to break and it will be increasingly easier to come across original ideas.
We hope you find this Exciting Commerce thought exercise fun and inspirational. Whoever makes it to the 1001 mark is welcome to send us their list. In exchange you’ll get access to the Exciting Commerce list.
Related post:
• Good Business Models for the Digital Age
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.
