No Workshops on the Internet for International Christian Retail Show (ICRS)
My Christian Etailing Newsletter reported that a “new study conducted by CBA shows that sales of Christian products were $4.63 billion in 2006—up from $4.3 billion in 2004, $4.2 billion in 2002 and $4 billion in 2000.”
I then reviewed the workshops International Christian Retail Show coming up July 8-12. I was looking to see what the $4.63 billion Christian retail sector was doing with the Internet.
I was expecting at least a few workshops on the topic. But there was nothing—just one workshop on bookstore manager software. I investigated BSMGR so called Total Web Solutions and there demo sites.
Umm, how does a $4.63 billion dollar industry have no more imagination about how to increase sales to a bricks and mortar bookstore than offering a e-commerce solution made in 2004.
Is it just me or is there a HUGE opportunity here?
If you are wondering why I would blog out in the open about potential business ideas—well ideas are a dime a dozen, real sustainable business are really hard especially online. Can I get a witness?
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Here is one alternative, anyone know of more…
http://www.addicosolutions.com/
Tim,
You’re right about ideas vs. sustainable business models… but I’m curious about the premise—I’m not in favour of flogging things to the Christian marketplace that are just knockoff clones of what’s being done elsewhere. In this case, I know there are a lot of ideas out there for turning “bricks to clicks” though I don’t see any reason to think of them as “Christian” or not. (I understand you’re probably with me so far.) The real question then is not why the solutions don’t exist, but where those solutions were, and why they weren’t present at the conference? I’ve had clients involved in a number of different vertical markets, and been able to compile the observations of people in broad markets making observations about the verticals that they run across. Take real estate agents… they’re almost stereotypical, and if your product or service doesn’t fit the stereotype very well, then you’ll do poorly in that vertical since you’re trying to make a living from the exception rather than the rule. And this is the suspicion that I’d throw out as a possible explanation of what you observed: Christian business people are a bad vertical market—difficult to make the sale, and difficult to service once you do.