Business innovation: some industries in transformation

I have already commented several times that one of the consequences of the use of Internet and the ICT is the transformation of many industries' value chain. Often, this transformation takes place to make them more efficient and transparent. In other ocassions, to establish new direct channels of distribution. Very few times, but increasingly, to radically innovate the industry business model.One of the traditional industries that entered a long time ago into this dynamics is the world of books. The first revolution came from the virtual store Amazon.com by selling books through Internet. This was some ten years ago and Amazon became a long time ago the top selling bookstore in the world. But that was only the beginning. Many of the industries' innovation and transformation possibilities have yet to be totally explored. Still now, many of the possible innovations are constrained by the inertia in the way of making things in the sector and by the attempt to safeguard the traditional "modus operandi" provoked by the fear to lose the current business. Anyway, we already know that important publishers in the United States are starting to consider the direct distribution of their titles. In the same way, Amazon has considered to publish its own new titles. And some time ago new initiatives started to be experimented: on demand printing, virtual bookstores that only sell electronic books, the edition and distribution by the authors themselves... Many of them have already begun to be experimented, but this industry still has a world of product and business innovation possibilities to be discovered in the future.Another of the industries facing a transformation and business innovation thanks to Internet is printing (attention SMES of this sector). I will explain a personal experience that reflects the future (already the present) of this industry. Weeks ago I had to buy a gift and decided for customized and original business cards. Following the traditional process it would have been practically impossible to have them on time, so I decided to prove the services of a multinational printing company that operates through Internet. In these cases I always follow the same rational, the one that I followed ten years ago, when I bought my first book in Amazon: what can I lose testing it in a small amount?. Then, once registered in the website system (two minutes) I could choose a graphic design that I liked among hundreds of different possibilities, customize it, and ask for a printable test to see how it would be in paper. Everything online and in less of half an hour. Once this process was over, I chose the form of delivery (in this case the most urgent service so I could have it on time) and I confirmed the order of 1,000 business cards. On the following day (yes, on the following day) I received an email confirming that the order already had been sent towards its destination. I am talking about a US company that has its manufacturig plant for Europe in Sweden and from which I received in ten days and without moving from home in Barcelona, good quality cards at a ridiculous price compared with the traditional system. The SMES of this industry would better start thinking and acting.

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