The Long Tail/Anderson 23-26

24 Moreover, in each case those new markets that lie outside the reach of the physical retailer have proven to be far bigger than anyone expected—and they’re only getting bigger.

In fact, as these companies offered more and more (simply because they could), they found that demand actually followed supply. The act of vastly increasing choice seems to unlock demand for that choice.

Netflix, Amazon, and Rhapsody—sales of products not offered by their bricks-and-mortar competitors amounted to between a quarter and nearly half of total revenues—and that percentage is rising each year. In other words, the fastest-growing part of their businesses in sales of products that aren’t available in traditional, physical retail stores at all.

For the first time in history, hits and niches are on equal economic footing.

26 The vast majority of products are not available at a store near you.

When you dramatically lower the costs of connecting supply and demand, it changes not just the numbers, but the entire nature of the market. This is not just a quantitative change, but a qualitative one, too. Bringing niches within reach reveals latent demand for non commercial content. Then, as demand shifts toward the niches, the economics of proofing them improve further, and so on, creating a positive feedback loop that will transform entire industries—and culture—for decades to come.