From Longman Business Dictionarycannibalizationcan‧ni‧bal‧i‧za‧tion /ˌkænəbəlaɪˈzeɪʃən-bələ-/ (also cannibalisation British English) noun [uncountable] MARKETING when one of a company’s new products or activities takes sales away from an older oneWhen the retailer started a mail-order operation there was a danger of cannibalisation, with existing customers choosing to shop at home rather than creating any new business.
