Trends Shaping the Future of E-Commerce

1. Social Network Integration:
As marketers encourage consumers to transact without leaving social network platforms, watch for more applications that leverage the emergence of "social shopping".
2. Mobile Commerce Sites:
Consumers accessing products and content when mobile have different needs than users browsing desktops. Progressive e-commerce retailers will begin to focus on designing a "mobile site user experience" based on a different set of assumptions than traditional desktop site visits.
3. Geo-Social - Mapping and Tie-Ins:
Watch as marketers take advantage of exciting new location-based cross-channel promotions. Rewards and Incentives for simply "showing up" at events connecting to brands and their products.
4. Contextural Visualization:
Shoppers expect to visualize more intimately how products look on them and in their environments. New technologies underway to facilitate that interest.
5. Grid Expansion and Liquid Layouts:
Liquid layouts will automatically size product display based on the browser resolution of the computer which the shopper is using to view the product. This will enable products to scale to size and improve visual quality.

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The Social Economy

We are living in a Social Economy and it is defined by the exchange of ideas and information both online and in the real world. The value and state of the exchange is indexed by the dividends earned through new opportunities and alliances. Relationships are the new currency of the Social Economy as they fuel and extend interaction, insight, and loyalty, and in turn, contribute to the social capital of the individuals who actively invest in their personal branding portfolio. Creating incentives and rewards for readers, viewers, members, and customers is now at the forefront of digital strategy.

Watch closely as building "trust" becomes the dominant "house rule" on the web.

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Ten Tips on Brand Positioning to Stay Relevant

Being a big player is no longer a competitive advantage
Its better to be a profit leader than a market share leader
There is no competitive advantage in doing what others do
There is no such thing as full service its focus on details
Most professional service brands are not overpriced, they are just underexclusive
Most firms are engaged in fighting turf wars, instead of finding new turf
No customer is going to buy a vague brand
For brands stuck in the middle is a prescription for death
“Boxed in?”, no box means no strategy
The main difference between mediocre firms and great ones is not just vision, but execution

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Trust in Art will build Trust in Brand

Trust Art is a philanthropic initiative aimed at creating self-sustaining communities for the production of public art while also redefining what public art can be, do, or mean when initiated on a local level. The growing awareness by consumers that artists offer a bridge to truth and honesty are more evident than ever. Check out this terrific collaboration and visit the upcoming event. http://trustart.org/projects

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Moving from a Transaction Mindset to a Relationship Mindset

Most corporations, large and small, have increasingly focused on short-lived transactions as the way to generate profit – buy low, sell high and wherever possible squeeze partners in transactions to generate as much profit as possible over the shortest possible time frame. It is a hunter mentality, predatory and aggressive. One of the "Big Shift" views promoted by thought leaders such as John Hagel is that growing access to real time knowledge flows, are proving that the transactional mindset undermines the demand for greater trust and transparency. And in the absence of those relationships it becomes almost impossible to effectively participate in the knowledge flows that can influence a consumer, a community, and drive a purchase. As I continue to work with clients, I make it a point to emphasize that our primary responsibility in business is to operate as a "trust-agent", and trust drives attention, and attention from social networks drive influence, and influence demands even greater trust. Stay with these principles, and prosper.

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e-Commerce moving to Social Commerce

According to ComScore, the 4th quarter of 2009 marked the sign of positive growth in the year with both retail and e-commerce showing gains. ComScore also stated that a social media is becoming an important driver of commerce, where social media influenced 28% of holiday purchases.

A recent report from FFP Global states that: “online shopping is moving from a transaction mentality to one that embodies discovery, entertainment and social bonding experience.”

The report goes on to list five key e-commerce trends for 2010:

Smarter Mobility: Smartphones have continued to grow due to their wider screens and applications. Mobile phone and handheld devices will see more applications to help drive ecommerce sales.
Fulfillment Rules: Retailers will begin to consider “regional fulfillment centers” due to rising fuel costs and the demand for quicker delivery times.
Customer Service: Consumers will begin utilizing an ever increasing number of communication channels: i.e.: texting, accessing information, free expression, immediate feedback, etc. All of these pose a challenge that e-retailers must take seriously.
Relevancy is Virally Important: E-retailers are starting to become more than suppliers of goods and services and must proactively develop a personality that market segments can accept. They must listen; actively engage in conversations with their current and potential customers and more.
Business Intelligence meets Business Process: In 2010, businesses will need to commit to the information in their data banks to create marketing and sales business processes to help provide them a competitive advantage.

According to a recent Razorfish report, “65% of consumers report having had a digital experience that either positively or negatively changed their opinion about a brand.” Additionally, “97% of that group said that their digital experience influenced their decision whether or not to purchase a product or service.”

Consumers are evolving quickly. Social Commerce is demanding that brands invite their customers to the "dinner table" and engage, listening, learning, and navigating new ways to facilitate need. Attention to detail in service and fulfillment remain cornerstone attributes for a positive "buying" experience. Give your best customers
more benefits not less.

Start rewarding and stop discounting!

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Who is the Social Customer?

§ The social customer is engaged, consuming information in real time, learning about breaking news through Twitter and Facebook , favoring her personal feeds which she has curated and surfaced as important information.

§ The social customer learns about new products and brands through social channels and trusts her social network to provide honest feedback about it, as opposed to a brand’s one-way message of persuasion.

§ The social customer is smart, no longer responding to unsolicited SPAM in her social networks or overly promotional tweets, but is open to relevant information that meets her needs at that particular moment.

§ The social customer expects brands to be present and active in the same social venues where she hangs out, listening to her feedback, whether it’s negative or positive.

§ The social customer expects you to listen and engage with her, not only when it coincides with an e-mail blast or new feature release, but rather when she needs you. And you better respond fast, in real-time, or she will either move on to a competitor, or tell her friends about her bad experiences.

§ Because the social customer can talk to a brand through many channels at the same time, she expects everyone she talks to from your company to have the same background on her issue. For example, if I complain about an experience on Twitter, I want the representative who engages me there to know my relationship with the brand, and can easily view the history of interactions I have had.

Bottom line: The social customer owns the relationship, and you need to earn her trust and respect.

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