Do you think the move away from stores and towards online distribution is changing that?
I've been out of this business from a professional standpoint for about 10 years, so I'm not sure.
I do know for certain that the shift to direct distribution has massively changed the size of speaker systems that are typically sold. This just has to do with the expense and difficulty of shipping larger systems by UPS, FedEx, etc. With brick and mortar retail stores, manufacturers would deliver larger systems on pallets to dealers by truck freight. This massively reduces the chances of damage and reduces cost.
When selling through direct distribution, the "manufacturer" normally offers a return policy since it isn't possible to hear the system before purchase. If they sell you a larger system and you return it, after being shipped twice it is going to be damaged to a degree that they may just as well junk it. This puts a serious size and weight limit on what companies will now design.
I do know for certain that the shift to direct distribution has massively changed the size of speaker systems that are typically sold. This just has to do with the expense and difficulty of shipping larger systems by UPS, FedEx, etc. With brick and mortar retail stores, manufacturers would deliver larger systems on pallets to dealers by truck freight. This massively reduces the chances of damage and reduces cost.
When selling through direct distribution, the "manufacturer" normally offers a return policy since it isn't possible to hear the system before purchase. If they sell you a larger system and you return it, after being shipped twice it is going to be damaged to a degree that they may just as well junk it. This puts a serious size and weight limit on what companies will now design.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.