Agreed...reminds me of the story of Kayak. Apparently, when Kayak launched the airlines had no affiliate plans and did not plan on paying Kayak (which they viewed as a threat). Eventually, Kayak started dumping serious numbers of users at their door and the airlines woke up and realized that they would have to pay Kayak. Milo is in an even better position because its more difficult for a competitor to establish relationships with mom and pops stores AND gain a customer base.
Yes - it's easy to think of ways that you would monetize it. Hmm, I wonder if this could be a prelude to retailers outsourcing inventory management completely to third parties instead of managing that in-house?
I'm generally solidly on the "make money today" bandwagon, but I'd make an exception and invest in Milo if I had the chance. They have traction with retailers, which is the hard part, and though they may not have a plan to make money right now, they're connecting an audience of people who are actively looking to spend money on something with retailers who want to sell to those people. Tons of interesting ways to monetize that connection.
