FUTURO by Eduardo Chavez

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e-Commerce trends in the next 12 months.

Today I came across LaVolta’s Digital Bullet video wherein various digital experts are asked to share their insights (20 seconds each) on the most interesting developments in B2C e-commerce in the next 12 months.

As you can imagine, the response are varied. Nonetheless, there is a common thread touching on the importance of the consumer’s role in growing e-Commerce. Various participants touched on group shopping (i.e CyberMonday and Groupon), friend referral/affiliate models and co-creation models (such as Threadless). 

What’s clear to me, and Peter Williams from Deloitte Digital says it in the video, is that e-Commerce is moving from selling TO the customers to selling WITH the customers. I spotted the opportunity to work with the community of suppliers and buyers in 2005/06 (when I was setting my startup Prickie), yet recognise that the opportunity is blatantly obvious now with the fast uptake of social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook. 

Relevant examples on implementation (which no speaker in the video mentioned) includes Groupon’s visitor referral program which uses social network channels to promote group purchasing and Levi’s ‘Friend’s Store’ which integrates strongly with Facebook to share product awareness and approval.

So to conclude, it is early days still, yet I believe that Social Commerce will provide businesses with the ability to strengthen its relationship with consumers and increase sales. Designing initiatives that engage and motivate your customers will make it easier and cost effective to hit sales targets. 

I’d be interested in your views on e-Commerce trends. Feel free to comment.


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