|
Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
01-25-2022, 09:51 AM
|
| |
Excellent summary. My interpretation is that they will imitate Dell's "build to order" manufacturing strategy and Tesla's "ignore the dealer- sell direct to the consumer "strategy. One of the common benefits of both parts of the strategy is inventory management. Fewer unsold cameras at the factory, fewer stuck in the distribution channel and no demonstration models on the counters of larger retailers. In addition, they theoretically get the profit margin benefits of cutting out the middle man. Well, maybe not the latter so much because Amazon will clearly take a cut, though partially offset by their incredible customer shipping options (here in the US but possibly not in Japan). Or if they ramp up their own direct sales to customers, they have to build a shipping, promotion and customer service infrastructure. But they do get control over pricing when they free themselves from the contracts with retailers.
As to the US market, Ricoh dealers are already as scarce as hen's teeth. I suspect B&H Photo has inventory in the store but I don't know who else. My local camera store used to be a RICOH dealer but no longer. I searched the RICOH website last year to see where they have dealers in the US. BestBuy stores all over the US were listed but it turns out they only sell the Theta line. Independent dealers were very sparse. So for the US, my impression is that they are already using an indirect on-line strategy.
My wife is Japanese. We take trips to Japan every couple of years. I stay two weeks and she stays a month or more to go visit family. On the last two trips I made sure I had a day or two in Tokyo so I could go visit BIC and Yodobashi along with doing some photography. I also usually visit the Canon and SONY showrooms in Ginza. I have never managed to find the RICOH showroom and I think maybe it has been closed down. Each one is a kid in a candy store experience - every time! But lately, I have noticed the camera sections at the big retailers are gotten smaller and are now poorly maintained. On my last trip in early 2021, I also visited MAP Camera, a large used camera retailer who I had bought a camera from on eBay here in the US. They had a white GR IV on the shelf that I had seen on eBay a week or two before. MAP has their own eBay "store" featuring all the inventory available for sale. Maybe a model for RICOH, certainly for refurbished product?
I returned to the US from my last trip in February 2021, just as COVID was happening. My wife and I are eager to go back but it is impossible right now. My wife has several elderly relatives she wants to see. Regretfully, one of them passed away just yesterday. The impact of COVID seeps into every corner of our lives.
|
