Watch Out For David – Opinion piece on Marketplaces

Walmart are taking on Amazon, Tech Data is taking on Ingram Micro (Cloud Blue), the war of the Marketplace has truly begun, but as we all know the art of war is in the strategy. Amazon is investing $18 Billion to get an army of independents on their side, Walmart have a counter strike with fast delivery and ‘cashierless’ checkouts, compelling to the countless consumers. Ingram invested over $1 Billion in acquiring their platform and hundreds of thousands in a technical rewrite, Apollo have committed $750 Million to fight back. Do we dare to approach an arena with such Goliaths swinging their mighty swords. I feel so…

Marketplace War

War is only lucrative if you win, the secret therefore must be not to lose. Whilst the Goliaths fight there will be a series of onlookers waiting for the victor to look for their next fight.

At this point the smart David will realize that his opponent is less agile, less creative, tired and fearful of his financial investors. He will resort to the only weapon he has, will try to use brute force. David just needs a sling… or preferably a HK416, David needs to work with the right vendors, to take the right products to market, that have the biggest impact. If David is smart, he will work with a series of vendors and be loyal to his partner base to arm them all with the tools they need to be collectively victorious.

David. With great power comes great responsibility, don’t screw it up.