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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: XML for Video, Pizza Shops & TakeOut
 > But what I'd really want is the nearest NON-CHAIN store. > Products funneling me exclusively to BigCo products are not > in the interest of this consumer (or, arguably, most of them). > That is an interesting point about chains and e-commerce. The Internet was supposed to make global commerce more accessible to the independents, but in many ways it gives an advantage to the big places. For example, since a chain like Rite-Aid has branches everywhere, I can go online and request a refill even if I am in Florida, and it will be filled at the nearest location. Same deal with book stores -- when you mix brick-and-mortar chains with online, you can do things like look up a book online and request that it be held at the nearest Borders with stock so you can go pick it up without waiting for UPS (too bad Borders or B&N doesn't do that). One potential answer to this dilemma is to have the independents pool their resources and provide a service. For example, www.cornerdrugstore.com lets me shop online at a number of independent pharmacies. This beats having all of them maintain their own sites, because I feel as if I have more freedom to "shop around" and compare prices. And I also know that I only have to remember one URL to get a whole variety of stores rather than one chain. Obviously this idea doesn't work for everything, and the scope of the bureau has to be sufficiently narrow; but I thought this was an interesting example of how the independents can provide a competitive alternative to the monolithic services. 
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