Disintermediary

Sounds like dissentary. But...it's not.

Thanks to increases in technology, producers are more able to reach their consumers directly more than ever before, eliminating some middle men. This direct producer-to-consumer system is called a “disintermediary,” since the intermediary (the middleman) has been dismissed. (Or dissed. Or both.)

Oftentimes, producers will use this as a marketing technique, telling consumers they’ll get the savings passed on to them from the dissed middleman who is no longer in the picture (like all those mattress ads). Other times, consumers will seek out a disintermediary relationship themselves. Maybe you saw a laptop on Amazon or at Best Buy, but wanted to see whether it was cheaper on the company’s website first before buying. What a savvy, savvy consumer you are.