The Long Tail

The 'Long Tail' is a developed theory by Chris Anderson, editor of Wired magazine in 2006.
He comments on how the internet has transformed, economics, commerce and consumption. He suggests that broadband has had a major impact on businesses' sales strategy. Before broadband companies were interested in the big-selling products, however with broadband they realised there is a huge un-tapped market for niche buyers. So therefore the ‘One-size-fits-all’ idea, no longer applies in our new era of media, as there are lots of different niche markets, where we can buy what we like online.

Another key point of Chris Anderson's theory, is lack of need for physical shelf space from the distributors. Products can be distributed via the internet for example, rather than buying a CD, you can now pay online and download it straight to your iTunes. This is a key change in the market, as pre-broadband shop keepers were more likely to stock up on 'best sellers' rather than all different types of books, Cd's, DVDs etc. which would cater for most peoples needs. 

The entertainment industry has changed rapidly; it now increases its sales by recommending similar products of interest. A company that is particularly successful in this area is Amazon.
The long tail also affects our economy, as it's much easier for customers to find niche products through recommendations, customer reviews, blogs etc. which has increased sales considerably.

>>> http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html <<<
The link above, is an interesting article which explains well the long tail and the effect it especially had on increasing the sales of ‘Touching the Void’.