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What E-Commerce Solution Providers Can Learn From Retailers

Last week marked the Shop.org Annual Summit, a must attend for e-commerce and multi-channel leaders.  The content was thought provoking, and the networking opportunities were plentiful.  Attending as a consultant, I spent a fair part of my time touring the exhibit hall on the lookout for solution providers that I can recommend to my clients or learn about for strategic consideration.  In a couple of cases though, I got some terrific examples of how NOT to market to prospective customers.

One thing is for sure: the number of exhibitors has grown.  I used to know all of them, now I am overwhelmed by the choices.  It's not so much that I mind having a lot of choices. What I mind is not being able to figure what most of these companies actually do. 

Here's a real life example:  A friend and I walked past a booth, where under the company name (deleted here to avoid embarrassing them) it read:

Consistent multi-channel branding strategy across offline and online catalogs maximizes the shopping experience for your customers and employees by creating an end to end online solution.

Wow. Now I ask you: do you have any idea what this company actually does?  A casual and totally unscientific, statistically insignificant poll I took at the lunch table had at least six people wondering....  did they slap it up on the booth really fast because they were in a hurry to get ready for the show? Or worse, did they spent hours in a smoke filled room trying to craft the perfect sentiment  that contained all of the right buzzwords? (They left out Web 2.0, though)

Here's another example. This company had banners on the side of their booth that displayed the following:

Transparent and simple pricing. Customizable. Increasing your revenue. Truly international. Easy implementation. Scalable. Improving profitability. Open standard. Guided navigation.

So, what is this company actually? A web design firm? An e-commerce platform? Site optimization tools? Analytics?  I'll bet if I walked up to them, they'd probably tell me they do all of those things.

Now, I know that e-commerce is complicated, but ask any retailer and they'll tell you that marketing 101 is about articulating a value proposition; being very clear about what your product is and why people should buy it from you.  If you're an e-commerce solution provider, the same rule applies.

I know your product is probably very technically sophisticated. While I'm not a CTO, I've spent enough years as a business leader in technology driven roles to be able to hold my own, and the same is true for most of us attending Shop.org.  Don't be afraid that what you call yourself will be "too technical" or "too boring" if it really is what you do well. Like web hosting and development for example. Just say it.

I know your company is probably multi-faceted and capable of many things , and that saying you're JUST a development shop or JUST an analytics tool doesn't do justice and you do so much more than that. And it's so hard to say it all on a booth.  But here's the thing. I'm actually looking for companies that do development and offer analytics tools.  Once I know you do that, you can tell me about all of the other great things you can do for me. 

Just like the retailer who can show a customer she has the skirt she's looking for and then sell her a sweater to go with it.   

I can see it now on next year's booth: People who bought our web design services also bought natural search optimization and rich media applications.

Think Marketing on Second Life Sounds Promising? You Might Already Be Doing It.

It's hard to open up a newspaper or a business magazine without stumbling upon an article about Second Life, the Linden Labs virtual world which has a thriving virtual economy,  a real estate market, a crime rate, and a host of other pleasures and pains you'd think were only available in the real world.

Retailers, including big names like 1-800 Flowers, have launched virtual storefronts on Second Life (see article), I assume in hopes of attracting virtual customers that might someday turn into real customers that spend real dollars instead of Linden dollars. IBM has an avatar-run customer service center on Second Life (see article), and Sears, in their own version of virtual re-creation, launched an avatar shopping site for teens and tweens this back to school season(see article), along with already having a Second Life 3-D home showroom. Maybe that Land's End Virtual Model really was just ahead of its time.

Now, if you're an e-commerce marketer who's tapped out real world marketing media like email, search, TV and print,  this might sound like an interesting opportunity.

But a few things I've read recently might make you think twice - or they might make you even more curious.

The WSJ recently published a story called "Is This Man Cheating On His Wife", about an addicted Second Life user who has all but abandoned his real world life and wife, opting instead to (get this) spend over 14 hours a day in his virtual life, where he has a job, a wife, a sex life and a large circle of friends.  When I finished the article I concluded: a) this man needs serious help and b) he and others like him are never likely to become an attractive target for real world retailers, given that they are never in the real world, unless it's to sleep, eat and go to the bathroom (the only three things you don't do on Second Life).   

Then, an article in the NY Times called "Even in a Virtual World, 'Stuff' Matters", made me think again.  Materialism definitely exists on Second Life, with avatars buying up better hairstyles, clothes and shoes, and even taking on second jobs to be able to look good and keep up with their avatar Joneses.  But here's the catch: a lot of real world brands have flopped on Second Life, with names like Calvin Klein virtually ignored (no pun intended), American Apparel closing up shop and Wells Fargo abandoning its presence.  So the rebellion against mainstream brands is alive and well, with independent designers and entrepreneurs succeeding at a faster rate. Lesson learned: retailers setting up shop will face a new economy of discriminating avatar consumers.

But, I've saved the best for last. Here's the real kicker: we might all actually be living in someone else's Second Life right now.  Another NY Times article, this time in the science section, not the business section,  will really make you think.  It's called " Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy's Couch".  We've all seen The Matrix and wondered if we might all just be part of one big video game.  But now there's actually (according to an Oxford University philosopher) a very real mathematical chance that this is indeed the case.  He says "my gut feeling ....is that there's a 20 percent chance that we're living in a computer simulation."  So, if that's true, all of the work you're doing to run a successful business, have a fantastic web site  and market effectively to your customers is actually someone else's doing.  Note, this would probably not be a good thing to bring up the next time your CEO asks why your business is not growing as fast as he'd like to see.

Now, for me, the thought of not being in charge of my own business and my own life seems preposterous. But in the off chance that the Oxford philosopher is right, I've decided to take matters into my own hands (as much as is possible, given that I might be controlled by someone else).  Since so many retailers seem to be floundering to establish themselves on Second Life, I'll be setting up an e-commerce consulting practice there. Who knows, with a couple of good engagements, maybe I can buy a new outfit and look as good as the other avatars.