The other reason for the increase in virtual Company Stores is, quite simply speed: Each colleague (co-worker, supervisor or employee) within your business is also a consumer, (not startling news). But we minimize what these expectations mean for those of us providing services in the B-to-B sector. For example, If I order promotional material from my marketing Department, I expect amazon- like immediate access to the materials, and near-immediate availability, or at least: express delivery. I also expect a wide variety of options, a complexing problem (and opportunity) as Chris Anderson asks in his book ‘The Long Tail’, “What happens when everything in the world becomes available to everyone?

Through our experience of distributing thousands of packages of branded materials in fifteen years, we’ve learned that the customer that ordered it today is expecting it tomorrow. Technology has become both friend and foe: driving expectations and creating new challenges for businesses everywhere to dramatically reduce response times and provide a wider variety of product. Your colleagues expect no less.