Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod, glass armonica, bifocal glasses
and—believe it or not—the mail order catalog. In his brochure for scientific
and academic books, the Philadelphia
entrepreneur stated, “Those persons who live remote, by sending their orders
and money to B. Franklin, may depend on the same justices as if present.”
Mail order catalogs were popularized by retail giants T. Eaton & Co.,
Montgomery Ward and Sears & Roebuck. Consumers peruse the pages for goods,
place an order and wait until it arrives in the mail. The same basic process
devised by Franklin survives to
this day in online commerce in that consumers must order based on pictures and
descriptions and wait until delivery to see what they actually bought.
The notion of ordering and waiting to see if a pair of jeans fits and looks
good on your body is an archaic concept to Louise Guay, the president and
founder of My Virtual Model,
a software developer and solution provider to fashion retailers.
“Experts are convinced that people don’t want to see themselves. I don’t
believe it,” says Guay, CEO of My Virtual
Model, a fashion-focused software developer and solution provider. “People want
a very real experience with new online tools and virtual worlds. They expect a
user-centric experience.”
My Virtual Model allows users to build lifelike digital representations or
avatars that can be used for modeling clothing from leading fashion houses.
Shoppers can use the height-weight proportional avatar to try on new clothes,
colors and styles and see them in the way they’d appear on their bodies. Social
networking functions allow shoppers to share their looks with friends to get
their opinion before buying.
“People buy more because they feel confident and they can get the feedback
from other users,” Guay says. “It can inspire them to wear new styles and
colors.” And for subscribing retailers, the My Virtual Model platform provides
a 30 percent to 40 percent higher sales conversion rate than conventional e-commerce
methods.
My Virtual Model is just one example of a new wave of Web-based technologies
sweeping across the e-commerce landscape. Like many applications of its kind,
My Virtual Model combines the traditional customer relationship management
functions with 3D and media rich presentations and social networking features
to create a rich, interactive user experience that results in higher sales
conversions and customer satisfaction levels.
The retail industry—particularly apparel and fashion dealers—took a beating
in the recession as consumers shied away from high-end designers and spent
conservatively on necessity clothing. With fewer dollars for discretionary
spending, consumers have become more frugal in the shopping habits and more
deliberative in how they select goods.
A survey conducted by BusinessWeek and myYearbook found that only 17
percent of consumers are posting to social networks for advice and opinions
about their purchase considerations. However, of consumers engaging with social
networks, 64 percent ask about items they’d buy in a store and not online, 81
percent seek advice from friends and followers, and 74 percent are influenced
by their social networks.
The convergence of social networking influence and new techniques for
engaging with consumers online is what will propel the next generation of
online shopping and help retailers regain their footing among recession-shocked
consumers. Interactive 3D presentations and integrated social networking will
transform the way online shopping is conducted, says Sandy Carter, vice
president of channels for IBM Software
Group.
“IBM is going to place greater focus on
this industry focus. We want to enable more partners to showcase their domain
expertise in these technologies,” Carter says. “But it goes beyond the technology.
It’s about showcasing business enablement for commerce. Our goal is to help
partners understand the sales and marketing opportunity and use this technology
to grow their businesses.”
CrossView, an ISV
specializing in cross-channel enablement, is on the forefront of developing new
applications and implementation strategies specifically for improving e-commerce
processes and user experiences. Regardless of whether a customer is talking to
a call center representative, surfing a Website or traipsing through a store,
his selection will go into a single shopping cart for future reference.
This simple concept is exceedingly difficult to execute, since most
inventory and purchasing systems are segregated between channels.
CrossView—whose customers include Moosejaw, Sam Ash and Scholastic—breaks down
the barriers between channels to ensure customers get the products they want,
when they want and through which medium they ultimately choose to purchase. For
the retailer, they reap greater sales conversions, better inventory control and
business analytics, and higher customer retention.
“We’re leveraging all of the components of the underlying infrastructure and
extending them to support the other retail touch points,” says Leila Ashley,
the marketing manager at CrossView, explaining how the ISV
developed the system based on IBM Websphere
commerce. “It’s about creating a single customer,” she adds. “It’s creating
symmetry across all channels.”
Breaking down the barriers between retail channels is taking on increasing
importance given the escalating use of online and mobile tools in making
purchasing decisions. This is more elemental than social networks in the
Facebook and Twitter context, says Steve Semelsberger, executive vice president
and general manager at Pluck.
Consumers from teens to retirees are roaming shopping malls with iPhones at the
ready to check the latest peer reviews for whatever they spy on the shelf.
Where few people today are engaging directly with their circle of friends on
purchasing decisions, they are listening to the wisdom of crowds on where they
dispense their money. In the movie industry, they call it the Twitter effect:
how instant reviews influence box office receipts. Sasha Baron Cohen’s latest
film "Bruno" topped the box office when it opened in July, but got
mixed reviews. A closer examination of ticket sales showed the film made all
its money on the Friday night opening and, following theatergoers panning,
dropped precipitously in the Saturday and Sunday takes.
Pluck provides retailers, manufacturers and high-profile brands such as the
National Football League with the social networking tools and content support
to build sustainable online communities that promote brand awareness and
influence user purchasing trends. The trick, Semelsberger says, is focusing on
the user experience and how that reflects on the corporate reputation and
value.
“Everyone is experimenting with Twitter and Facebook, but it’s important for
when people come back to the site that the soul of the corporation shines
through and that they [the users] can engage with the company,” Semelsberger
says.
Semelsberger says companies that engage with the social experience and give
users an easily accessible platform for interacting with the company and peers
have a higher level of customer affinity and higher sales conversion rate.
Companies that embark on the socialization process can measure their success
along four metrics: more unique visitors, engagement with the Website (time on
site), conversion (sales activity, account registration) and lower operational
costs, he says.
Carter says IBM is providing development
support for partners using Websphere as a platform for building next-generation
e-commerce retail systems. While the technology is important, she says a deep
understanding of and vertical alignment with the retail industry is equally
important.
It’s a sentiment echoed by CrossView’s Ashley, who recounted how the ISV
transformed itself from a general reseller and integrator of software products
and custom applications to a specialty developer of commerce solutions for the
retail industry. The in-depth knowledge and skills developed by CrossView for
the retail industry enabled it to optimize its solutions for broad adaptability
and quick deployments.
“It’s not just about the technology. It’s understanding the need for the
solution,” says Ashley. “You just can’t deploy technology and think the
customer is going to automatically get something out of it.”