Cue the Dancing Ewoks

And now, let's go to the movies:



Yesterday, Amazon started telling their Value Added Resellers (VARs) that they plan to exit the incentive business. To coin a phrase--WTF?

Amazon was indeed the Death Star, the Mongol Hordes, and the Blitzkrieg all rolled into one. People were predicting the end of the world, or at least the end of business as we know it. And now they're LEAVING? Huh?

It's very early. Let me repeat that--VERY early--to begin eulogizing Amazon. But what is clear is that Amazon's vision of their experience and their actual experience appear to not be in alignment. Perhaps they over-estimated the size of the opportunity (wouldn't be the first time that happened). Maybe they didn't like the "back-end" issues of customer service that permeate our business.

Or maybe, just maybe, they realized that this business isn't as easy as they thought it'd be. And it wouldn't be the first time THAT'S happened either. The road is littered with carcasses of the Next Big Thing. The Thing we can't live without. The Thing that makes all other Things obsolete. The Death Star.

It'll be hard to get any clarity over the next few days, with all the champagne corks popping and the Ewok dancing. But there is an opportunity here--Amazon captured a serious amount of business and those VARs need to find a replacement, and fast. At least two entities believe they have a solution--more will surface. We'll see.

Looks like the Baja earthquake wasn't the only earth-moving event this week...


Pete