But here’s the thing … there’s a huge segment of the market that has no interest in that kind of customer experience. For every customer who loves the great little local pizza joint down the block, there are a dozen others who are just as happy eating at Pizza Hut every time. The great local retailer can’t compete for those customers; his customers are the people who want deeper relationships, who value personalized customer service and understand what a great locally owned independent business does for a community. When I travel to another city, I don’t hit the local Borders; I look for the great indie. I don’t eat at McDonald’s, I seek out the best indie burger joint. I want to experience the culture of that city, and it isn’t the local branch of a national retailer.

Unfortunately, there are far more people who prefer the known quantity to the unknown. Indie retailers need to recognize where the greatest potential for business lies, and it isn’t with the masses. They’re headed for Wal-Mart.

Here’s another case in point. In general I don’t really enjoy Kenneth Turan’s movie’s reviews. I subscribe to the L.A. Times, so I get them, but when I want to check out a movie, I automatically go to Rotten Tomatoes online, because reading the aggregate of dozens of reviews, plus user comments, always gives me a better insight into whether I will like a movie or not. (I could care less about the “tomatometer” percentage, but I like skimming all the written reviews.) Rotten Tomatoes can’t be done on a local level; in fact, I would posit that online communities like Rotten Tomatoes and the user comments on Amazon bring a much more targeted community to you than any local retailer can.

I believe you are saying that this new communication/community medium creates an opportunity for the independent local retailer. While I agree that this is true, it also means that the mega-multi-national online retailer is competing with you on a level it never has before. As I’m pushing myself further and further into the social networking/marketing stream, I’m always having to ask myself “am I trying to do something that the big companies are always going to be better at?” and “How can I distinguish myself from the bigger guys on the web in my field?” and maybe even “How can I team up with some of the bigger guys on the web in my field to create some mutual success?”