3.  Hybrid Mix

Like almost everything else in the world, there is always middle ground between two points.  Although selling information or transaction based products can be successful, the companies really making a profit are the ones that use a combination of the two.  Charles Schwab, which I mentioned earlier as an example of an intangible product supplier of securities, also provides free access to such informational products as company news reports and stock evaluations.  This not only develops a value-added approach to its products, but improves the stability of their business as a whole by making equivalent competition more difficult to obtain.

Likewise, Amazon.com, mentioned earlier as a tangible product distributor, also uses a hybrid mix of information and transactions.  Not only does Amazon.com sell books, but it also encourages and provides reviews of their books by both individuals and authors.  People are invited to give the books a numerical rating and leave their comments so that others can obtain past opinions.  Once again, Amazon.com has been successful by moving past simply offering a tangible product and has found a unique way to increase consumer value and benefit.

Although a hybrid mix is a more complex model of organization, it often is regarded as the most yielding and consumer oriented approach since it offers direct intrinsic benefits in conjunction with a valued product transaction.