So You Want Your Own Website

Recently several manufacturers have announced that they are initiating an e-commerce business. I’m not sure of the motivations behind these moves but it seems to be a growing trend. Although many manufacturers have been offering direct sales for many years through their own e-commerce sites, it seems we’re seeing a new surge of interest in doing so from players who have historically shunned the idea. And this got me thinking about how a manufacturer could do e-commerce in a way that doesn’t simply cannibalize the sales would be generated by a third party distributor or retailer, but instead would increase the value of the brand which is delivered to the customer. I can think of three ways a manufacturer might do this.

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