With the Nexus One phone, Google also presented a direct sales model that revamped current distribution systems.
For more than a decade, Dell rode its direct sales model and surging demand from businesses for bland, affordable personal computers to industry dominance.
Both should also benefit some from the recent problems that Dell is having with its direct sales model, once thought to be a bigger threat to retail store computer sales.
The direct sales model also lends itself to fostering personal relationships between sales associates and their clients, creating brand loyalty and opening up opportunities for expansion through networking and word of mouth.
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Dell, long known for its direct-sales model, began selling computers through retail outlets last year.
Michael Dell and others strode in with their Web direct-sales model and changed the rules.
An important part of Dell's success has been that along with its direct-sales model it offers a customisation service.
Dell's biggest push, going forward, is an effort to move the company past the direct-sales model pioneered by its founder (see " The Second Coming").
In the 1990s, it was easy for Dell to use its direct-sales model to take share from companies like Compaq that were selling through higher cost retail stores.
These were good years, during which Dell became the world's largest and most profitable computer-maker, with a supply chain that was easily the most efficient in the industry, if not the world, and a direct-sales model that seemed to keep Dell one step ahead of rival companies selling computers through old-fashioned stores.
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Regardless of what you think about the history of direct sales, this model now has potential to tap into customer demand for alternative shopping channels and drive sales more efficiently than traditional retailers.
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And with Dell moving away from its direct-only sales model and pushing into Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, Dell can afford to take a chance on anything--except being bland.
And with Dell moving away from its direct-only sales model and pushing into Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and Sam's Club, Dell can afford to take a chance on anything--except being bland.
Tesla Motors, Inc. has a direct-to-customer sales model as opposed to a dealer sales model.
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As Tesla pursues the direct-to-customer sales model, it has stated that it intends to become fully licensed as a seller of automobiles under the laws of each state.
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Salesforce.com has a large direct sales force and a direct marketing model.
Dell has aggressively moved its renowned direct-sales, build-to-order business model to the Internet.
This strategy can be applied through in-store mobile points of sales, and also through a direct to consumer model that bypasses retail stores altogether.
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Groupon is moving from the once-lucrative model of daily deals into more direct e-commerce sales, bringing it into competition with powerhouses Amazon ( AMZN) and, to a lesser extent, eBay ( EBAY).
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