Most business negotiations go on behind the scenes between vendors and distributors; as consumers will only see the product on the shelf and the price we should pay. Sometimes, those negotiations become public and consumers get engaged and enraged at the process, especially when it affects them personally.
We have seen it with cable networks and distributors, but now we are seeing it between digital retailers and their vendors. The big news concerns the largest digital retailer, Amazon, and their fight with not one, but two vendors. The first has been with book publisher Hachette, regarding terms for selling their books. Their next big release is with JK Rowling, a potential must have summer read. And now we hear of another negotiation gone south with Warner Bros. on the sale of their movies, including the DVD release of The Lego Movie.
Of course, we as consumers don't know all the details of the negotiation, we only know that it limits availability of getting this content from this distributor. While it may be difficult to switch cable providers to assure receiving content, it seems much easier to simply buy these books and movies from other retailers. The same clicks can get you the JK Rowling novel or Lego movie from multiple other retailers including Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart. Perhaps that it is Amazon, the largest digital retailer, that is in the middle of such controversy, makes us pay more interest. For whatever the outcome, consumers can still get their content. And that might hurt the Amazon customer experience in the long run.
