Last week, Vroom, once a promising player in the online used-car sales market, announced a somewhat surprising shift in their business strategy: The company is planning to cease its e-commerce operations, halting both buying and selling on its website and to liquidate its current inventory through wholesale channels.
Excellent takedown Prof. Do you think platforms should stick to technology and stay away from managing inventory? At the end of the day, customers want seamless experiences and not aggregators like Uber. Would love your thoughts.
Great question. There is a tradeoff here, but wouldn't it be great if it was like Uber where the right car will just be dropped by the previous customer at your doorstep. Not trivial at all at this point, but I don't think they necessarily have to carry inventory.
Great article as usual, Prof. I look forward to these every Monday!
Thank You!
Excellent takedown Prof. Do you think platforms should stick to technology and stay away from managing inventory? At the end of the day, customers want seamless experiences and not aggregators like Uber. Would love your thoughts.
Great question. There is a tradeoff here, but wouldn't it be great if it was like Uber where the right car will just be dropped by the previous customer at your doorstep. Not trivial at all at this point, but I don't think they necessarily have to carry inventory.