The Kyle File

I'm seeing a very disturbing fad among businesses these days. It seems that more and more of them want us to pay for something they’re not selling. Sometimes, it seems, these businesses want us to pay for a product as much as a month or more before they plan to start selling it. Of course I’m referring to preorders. Get real! The company has nothing to sell, but they want us to buy on the basis that they will make a product available in the future. I just saw this practice from Apple and from Clearwire, both within the last month, but many other companies engage in this type of marketing all the time.

Well, for me, seeing is believing. If I purchase a product, I want it shipped to me within 1 to 2 weeks, or I want to walk into a store, pick it up off the shelf, pay for it and bring it home. I don’t have the time or the money to spend on something that isn’t for sale at the time I make my purchase. You can show me all the pictures you like, but I'm not buying.

Here's a thought. How about trying a marketing strategy like this. It actually could work. Manufacture enough product to meat your projected demand, and then a little more. Then, once you have enough to meet the demand, then begin selling the product. No preorders. No superhype to get people camping out and waiting in line all day to find out that the store ran out of what they were trying to purchase. If the product is good, people will buy it, and if enough of the product is manufactured, people will be able to buy it the second or third day after it becomes available. I believe that a company that uses this marketing strategy could stand to make much more proffit than one that engages in all the superhype and preorder nonsense.