Long-Tail Distribution
In statistics, a model which describes a distribution of occurrences where a large portion of the distribution are far from the "head" or central part of the distribution. Often applied in a business, to apply to business models that can offer many different varieties of uncommon goods (Amazon or Netflix), as opposed to few varieties of common goods (Walmart).
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Origin
First introduced by Chris Anderson in a 2004 article in Wired magazine, and later expanded upon in his 2006 book "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More." Anderson argued that the rise of digital technologies and online marketplaces had made it easier for consumers to access and discover niche offerings, and that this had led to the emergence of a new type of business model that was focused on serving these niche markets. The concept of the Long Tail has since become a recognized principle in business and economics, and has been used to describe the impact of digital technologies on a variety of industries, from music and media to retail and manufacturing.