What is Mass Customization and what are its Benefits?

Mass Customization is the process of providing the low unit costs of mass production with the flexibility of individual customization (definition modified from Wikipedia's Mass Customization entry). Essentially, this means delivering customized products to each end-user based on their own design -- and on a mass-scale. Typically, high-level customization occurs on a small scale due to complexity with technology, manufacturing, supply chain, and/or product design.

Some industries however do benefit from advances in these key functions and are capable of providing mass customization to the masses. The capabilities in and of themselves however, do not automatically equal success. The purchase process also plays a key role in the ability to market, merchandise, and sell mass customized products.

What is a Considered Purchase?

A Considered Purchase is one where the product or service purchased is durable, long-lasting, and of solid benefit and enduring value. Products or services that are a considered purchased are owned over a long period of time (definition derived from http://www.smithdahmer.com/content/difference-and-truth-about-considered-purchase). This means the frequency of purchase is low, but the level of engagement is high when the end-user has arrived at the point of purchase decision.

What is a Mental Model?

A mental model is an explanation of someone's thought process about how something works in the real world. Mental models help shape behavior and set an approach to solving problems and doing tasks (definition derived from Wikipedia's Mental Model entry). Mental models are developed with exposure to a problem or task, so the less frequent the exposure means a more simplistic mental model if the problem or task is complex in nature.

The Role of a Sales Associate in Considered Purchases

In an environment where mass customization and considered purchases are a reality, simplistic mental models interfere with the end-user's ability to successfully comprehend the choices they are presented with and therefore they require a significant amount of help to reap the benefits of mass customization and to achieve satisfaction with their considered purchase. Help may come in the way of a sales associate who is a seasoned expert. This is why many considered purchases are accompanied by a professional sales associate (buying a home, buying a car, buying flooring, etc.) because they are there to remove the roadblocks to purchasing.

Sales associates however, can be expensive to retain and keep trained if products and services that are considered purchases change regularly. Additionally, the departure of an expert sales associate, or a high turnover rate of sales associates can wreak havoc on the success of your ability to sell considered purchase products because when end-users enter your environment trying to understand considered purchases without that associate's expertise to guide them (because of their simplistic mental models), they will be lost.

If not lost, they will not reap the benefits of mass customization in your products and will instead choose the path of least resistance because of their low confidence level and still-simplistic mental model. And at the end of it all, you will lose to lower margin competitors who offer the same basic features at cheaper prices.

Offering More Choice than a Mental Model was Built on

At the crux of mass customization benefits is giving end-users nearly limitless choices. This often means introducing possibilities that end-users previously did not know were available to them requiring them to stop and consider their purchase at each step of the way a new piece of information is presented. Herein lies the dilemma: offering more choice than a mental model was built on. How do end-users take advantage of the choice if their mental model wasn't designed to understand choice? How can you effectively expand the user's mental model without overwhelming them? And how is this all done without relying on a sales associate to facilitate the process?

Enter usability & content.

Why Usability & Content Strategy Matter

Usability is the ease of use and learnability of an object or process. Self-service systems are only successful when they are easy to use. "Easy to use" can take on several forms, and in an environment where simplistic mental models exist, mass customization is available, and the product or service is a considered purchase, usability must not only be viewed as an interface element, but as a means for providing a process around consuming content and further developing a mental model.

Content aids in educating an end-user, and expanding their mental model to develop an understanding of the choices available to them. The content developed for a user experience is as critical as the interface design elements that are responsible for aiding an end-user through a system.

Vague shopping process familiarity exists in traditional Marketing roles

On the other hand, with Digital we typically see a marketing team with vague familiarity around the intricacies of the touch points of a shopping process trying to build comprehensive shopping experiences.

User Experience is not a marketing campaign

Because the rules of store operations, merchandising, and customer service are different in a digital world, we see little crossover in the expertise of these traditional departments, and marketing departments fall back on what they do best: campaigns. Making a big splash with a new idea, hoping it sticks, and moving onto the next budgeted initiative. The problem is that campaigns have a short life-span, and you never want to treat your digital experience like a campaign.

Enter the User Experience (UX) practitioner

UX practitioners will excel now and into the foreseeable future as marketing departments in both retailers and brands work to bridge cross-channel shopping gaps with digital. It's these folks who will help map touch points from the traditional world to the digital world, and vice versa because they see the details so no stone is left unturned.

Experiences are never-ending

An experience is never-ending; campaigns and products do however come to an end. Marketing Departments must rid themselves of this mentality and embrace an era of User Experience design.

For years, manufacturers build product, sell it into a retailer, and wipe their hands of most responsibilities after the fact -- often focusing on promotional calendars to help drive point of sale with some arm's length control over point of purchase signage.

As the shift to building experiences becomes more of a priority for brands and manufacturers, they find themselves with an organizational structure and culture that may be highly unprepared for what it takes to embrace this new experience-driven mentality.

These are exciting times for consumers as retailers and manufacturers push the envelope for their attention across channels. These are equally exciting times for retailers and manufacturers as the advances in consumer technologies and their expectations are driving substantially different conversations at the brand and retailer level than in years past.

I don't watch the local news.

I don't watch the national news.

This doesn't mean that the news doesn't matter to me but rather the way in which I consume the information does. I get my news in bite-sized chunks online as free minutes are available a couple times throughout the day.

The Daily

Despite my fragmented habits of consuming "news," I do however spend the time once per month to read magazines of interest to me. So how does "The Daily" fit into my routine?

"The Daily" iPad subscription for the news is an interesting concept. I have been testing it out and find myself liking the format but coming to the realization that it's just not how I keep up with news anymore.

I feel like this is more of a product of me not having 30 minutes to dedicate each day to rather than it being because of the convenience of the free news available online. I don't spend 30 minutes reading freely-available online news, either. It's not that I'm unwilling to pay for content, I'm just unwilling to pay for content I won't use.

The technology isn't what's changing my habits, it's the pace of life and lifestyle that is.

I actually don't hate the newspaper format. I enjoy the content available in newspapers -- my lifestyle however doesn't afford me the time to sit and read it each and every day.

If my favoriate magazine came via an iPad subscription, I would prefer to read it that way vs. on paper. But that's more a product of leveraging the convenience of the device rather than despising the paper its printed on.

Is the newspaper industry dying because of technology or because of consumer lifestyles?

A little bit of both. But I think it's more a product of consumer lifestyle than anything. Many people aren't paying for a newspaper anymore not because the content quality is poor but rather because they can't dedicate the time out of their day to sit and read. The Sunday newspaper probably remains the most-kept subscription because of the coupons and also because that's a day of the week where many do have a few moments to sit and unwind (all speculation - I have no data to support this).

The industry must adapt to the changing behaviors of consumers, not simply move the same concept to another medium.

The newspaper industry needs to instead learn how to deliver news that caters to the faster-paced lifestyles of consumers. It's certainly not in the printed format and it may very well not be via an iPad subscription. The iPad subscription of The Daily is no different than a newspaper -- I still need to dedicate time I don't have to reading it.

I hope The Daily succeeds because it will provide a blueprint for other traditional publishers to make the switch to Digital Media and we will see some creative work come out of it. However, the concept is fundamentally flawed because it has taken the same business model and made it available on a different medium -- and its demise may very well be because consumers' reading habits for the news simply aren't what they used to be.

On a related note, in an article on February 7th from VentureBeat about Microsoft potentially cleaning house to make room for more technologists on the Executive team, this particular quote from an Analyst in the article resonated with me:

“You see the engineering team ascending because Steve is realizing that there is a need to execute on a vision and in order to do that you have to actually understand how software is built,” said Wes Miller, an analyst at the Kirkland, Washington-based research firm Directions on Microsoft, in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek. “It’s a whole other thing to be able to say, ‘I’ve been at Microsoft, I understand software, and what you are saying will or will not work.’”

The underlined portion is of particular interest to the Marketing Technologist - in order for Marketing departments to execute on a vision, an understanding of the technological underpinnings for that vision and the end-user experience it delivers is vital.

The Era of the Marketing Technologist

More importantly, you don't have to be a software company like Microsoft to require this expertise. For more in-depth discussion on the topic, read Scott's post on The Rise of the Marketing Technologist.

Making the Case for an Embedded Marketing Technology Team (E-Business)

In my interview, I make the case that Marketing departments should even have their own technology arm - at our organization we call it the E-Business team. E-Business drives multichannel sales, new customer acquisition, brand recognition and loyalty, and customer retention. For more on E-Business, read on.

I love Apple products and the Apple retail store. The checkout process however, needs some work.

Unless you are getting help from an Apple retail associate, the store is not really setup for someone who just wants to go in and buy a product. The lack of a line of registers is a novel idea and by giving each associate their own iPod Touch / credit card scanner device, you have no need for the checkout line bottleneck.

Checkout/Cash Registers Provide a Destination for Paying

However, there is something natural about a line of checkout/cash registers -- you know where to go when it's time to purchase. You don't feel like you are interrupting an associate who's floating around the store. You know the person behind the register is there for one reason and one reason only:  pay them your money for a product off the shelf.

Self/Expert Checkout

Since I do most of my product research online before heading to the Apple store, I walk in knowing exactly what I want. I end up spending the majority of my time wandering aimlessly trying to snatch up an Apple associate before the next uneducated shopper occupies them for the next 15 minutes with questions.

I'd love the ability to self-checkout at the retail store. Or some other means for getting an associate's attention that signals them that I'm ready to buy.

If this were an e-commerce site...

Checkout is perhaps the most critical component of an e-commerce site. It's the make-or-break moment for your customer in the shopping process. Frustrate them and they will bail.

However, a template won't fix a fundamental misunderstanding of the commercialization process.

The Purpose of Commercialization

Commercialization is about transforming the value proposition of your brand or product in bite-sized chunks that are tailored for the end-user at the appropriate stage in their shopping process.

Commercialization is NOT about picking items from a menu of capabilities from your marketing communications department and web teams to randomly fit as many tactics as possible into your available budget. Remember, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

1 Simple Tip to Factor User Experience into Commercialization

A general rule of thumb I use is asking one simple question: What is the next step you want the consumer to take?

If you can't answer this question, put your work on pause and honestly map out the context in which the consumer is arriving at this point in the shopping process and how your message is going to help them proceed to the next step.

Ask this question frequently throughout your commercialization plan and you will find yourself building a mental map of how your target end-user is navigating your product category. This will help you frame up the user experience across multiple tactics in-store and online in digestible chunks.

Why do consumers call customer service?

Maybe it's just me, but when I spend my time to call customer service, it's to get a specific issue resolved on that call. I do not call to "leave feedback."

Additionally, I go online first, perform a Google search, and see what resolutions are available to my problem (if any). My confidence level in finding an answer to my question on a company website is low. Odds are, I will find a discussion around my topic with other consumers who are experiencing the same issue. All of this takes place completely externally of a company's call center.

So, why are companies relying on call center data to measure satisfaction?

Call centers were previously the "front lines" of interaction with your customers. This is no longer the case. Online communities are the front lines. Let's take a look at a few examples:

1.) Apple's iPhone 4 Antennagate

Apple's antennagate was a great example of where Apple released statistics based on their own call center and support center data. While the data supported the fact that the antenna issue was small relative to previous reception issues on older iPhones, in no way did their data incorporate feedback and comments from the public. I own an iPhone 4 and didn't have the problems that others reported, but at the same time, Apple's call center is the last place I go for support for my device.

2.) Spike TV: "We actually don't get many viewer calls..."

Similarly, (I'm an MMA fan) Spike TV recently aired a tape delay of a UFC event that took place in the UK. The tape delay allowed Spike to air the show during primetime hours (8PM-11PM Eastern) in the U.S.

Because sports newscasts like ESPN report on the news in realtime, many MMA fans were furious when ESPN posted fight results during College Football on Saturday as the live event took place in the UK.

This prompted the MMA community to question why Spike TV would air the broadcast via tape delay. Their research shows that primetime is the best time -- and I totally understand this. It's actually when I want to watch these events (rather than early afternoon). However, this is what I found interesting:

There was quite a bit of hand-wringing among MMA fans this weekend over Spike TV showing UFC 120 on tape delay from London, leading to some fans finding out the results of the fights before they aired in the United States. But Spike TV says that the hand-wringing has been limited to a relatively small number of fans, and that the majority of viewers prefer to watch the fights in prime time.

"We actually don't get many viewer calls," said David Schwarz, VP Communications at Spike. "I've never received any and I know it's very minimal.

(Source)

I'm not even sure where I would go to call Spike TV. Their website contact form is only a customer service contact form (no email address, either). It's no wonder why they don't receive many viewer calls...and they shouldn't use this as the only source of data to measure satisfaction.

3.) Domino's Pizza utilizes multiple communication channels

A company can no longer rely on just their internal data they collect when a consumer calls or emails.

Via brandchannel.com:

Weiner says the new recipe "came from the thousands of direct consumer feedback messages on several media channels."

Domino's had an image problem with the public. They performed focus groups to understand why. Notice how they reached outside their normal data collection channels to truly measure satisfaction...we're not talking just call center data to back up a change in product.

Kudos to Domino's (and their new recipe is better, too!).

Consumers talk about brands outside of a brand's communication collection points

It's easier for me to post my opinions on a blog, Twitter, or Facebook. There are a lot of other opinions from consumers on these networks, too. Companies need to invest in monitoring tools to measure true satisfaction of their products -- because consumers are shifting behavior more and more to posting to their communities online than to offering feedback directly to the company.

In fact, it's not even a behavior shift because public opinion has always lived outside of a brand's communication channels -- there's just now technology to broadcast your opinions.

And for businesses, technology exists to measure consumer comments and sentiment outside of your normal data collection channels like customer service, email support, and product surveys.

I say this because every time I open the refrigerator, I can't quickly identify which type of milk the two 1-gallon containers are without carefully reading the tiny letters on the package:

Consumers are trained to shop by skim, 1%, 2%, and whole milk. Yet the Publix label emphasizes "reduced fat" (their 2% name) and "low fat" (their 1% name) as the primary label. This is a usability faux pax because the single, most important descriptor on this product package is not the primary part of the label.

When there are no standards, use best practices

When there are no color-coding standards (Publix uses green and pink for their 2% and 1% color labels, respectively -- other suppliers use different color schemes) and the product packaging itself is identical, then the most important part of the packaging label needs to describe what the product is. "reduced fat" and "low fat" are not how consumers shop for milk.

This would be like Apple calling their line of iPod Touches something other than the storage size that differentiates them:

Here's how Apple really does it. This makes sense to the consumer and doesn't force me to explore more to understand what each of these products means. Milk labels should also leverage this best practice:

Marketing organizations fall prey to waterfall approaches to updating websites and this generally is a result of an annual budgeting process. Since you'd never leave a retail store untouched for weeks or months on end, why should your online visitors suffer this mistreatment with your site?

It doesn't matter if you sell online or not, your website is a storefront, not a campaign. As such, maintaining a website is a process, not an event.

Consumer-friendly messaging, right?

Aside from the visual design of the site, it's the vague message that has my eyes rolling. Basically, this website exists to tell you your tax refund status, but the Department of Revenue cannot provide specific estimates on when individuals will receive their refunds. But alas, everyone who is due a refund will receive a refund! I guess that makes it all better, right?

Imagine if you placed an order for a product, it's been weeks and you haven't received your shipment. You call the retailer only to hear them say "we can't provide you with a status of your order but rest assured, you will receive your shipment."

Voice of the taxpayer online

I would love to see a government site use OpinionLab or ForeSee Results on their sites. Taxpayers should then be able to see the aggregated feedback ratings & scores. Government website operators could then focus on ease of use and helpful tools online. Messages like above only insult taxpayer intelligence and further throw gas on the fire.

However, I'm wondering when they (and other satellite & cable providers) will begin to think differently about how they present channel guides both online and via the TV remote?

Here's DIRECTV's guide:

These are mainly local channels. Wouldn't it be better to offer a filter that said "Local Channels" that I could click and see these? I'm not familiar enough with the Station IDs to know if they represent ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. Sure, I can generally tell by the programming listed, but still. This would never fly on a major retailer website for listing products this way.

If TV stations were like consumer products...

If this were an e-commerce site, end-users would be driven away if they were forced to only view products by numerical product ID and a short-code. Through history of channel surfing by number, I suppose this method of thinking is engrained in many people's minds.

However, with the volume of channels being what they are, presenting them in numerical channel order is a growing usability challenge. I live in a world where I DVR virtually everything and watch it at a later date. I am completely channel number and station ID agnostic -- I honestly don't know what channels "my shows" are on.

Searching for TV shows

Let's look at keyword search results for "olympics"

Support topics are shown first. Then site pages.  Hopefully there's research to support this ordering, but generally speaking, a topic like "olympics" is probably more related to TV programming than a support article. "Satellite doesn't work" would certainly be a reason to show support articles first. Below the fold (scrolling down on a 20" monitor) I see 5 results for TV programming.

I don't know what NBCw vs. NBCwHD means. Unfortunately there's no title for me to click on to find out why this matched my search for "olympics." Let's click "view all":

More empty titles. Again, search results displayed by channel and then by date with no sorting options.

DIRECTV offers a slick option to "Record to DVR" from their website. As such, having the ability to filter search results by content rather than channel and date/time is important because on the web and with the ability to "Record to DVR", the channel and date/time are irrelevant.

For example: Because I've been buried in doing actual work the past couple weeks, I first heard about Google Buzz through RSS feeds before getting the notification that it was ready for my Gmail account.

And judging by the RSS feeds, the type of coverage was akin to TMZ covering Jersey Shore cast news.

Oh my, people. Relax.

The early adopter community of these technologies get so caught up in overanalyzing every move in the industry that they lose sight of where these innovations and changes take us from a consumer perspective.

It makes me yearn for the format of a magazine that reports on industry news in a less timely format, but without all of the initial noise, gossip, and speculation woven into the article like I'm seeing so much of online.

Social Media has the potential for large companies to feel small and make each customer feel valued like local businesses have been doing for years.

My local dry cleaner

Each week when I drop off my dry cleaning at the local dry cleaner, the owner greets me by my first name. I've even seen the owner working out at the local gym and he still referred to me by my first name.

Making me feel valued and worth remembering

It's one thing to see a customer's vehicle pull into your parking lot giving you have a few moments to recall their name, it's another to see the customer out of context and still remember their name.

It's hard to explain how this feels as a customer to be remembered both in and outside of the business.

I have yet to feel this way after visiting or purchasing from a website.

Which is your social media strategy?

That of my local dry cleaner? Or something else:

There's little in the relationship and loyalty department to be gained when your business' Twitter account is for posting your cheapest products, your Facebook page is about acquiring the most followers, and your blog is filled with content designed for search engine rankings and not people.

Build a relationship, not a campaign

The point of Social Media is not to "build a list," "go viral," or "get impressions/mentions." Social Media is not a campaign.

Social Media, done correctly, enables your business to intelligently connect with your loyalists to build deep relationships over time.

(Old screenshot of the site -- when Circuit City was still in business to be able to run banner ads)

It started as just a hobby

From '98-'02 it truly was a hobby, funded entirely by the money out of our pockets with no real plan in place. We knew we had something unique because people kept coming to the site, registering, loading up their vehicle information, pictures, sounds, and videos -- all by word of mouth. But man, it was an expensive hobby to have, even with costs split between the three of us.

It became a business (but a part-time one)

In '03 we officially became a Limited Liability Company, setup a business banking account, had company credit cards, designed and printed company business cards, had a company phone line, mailing address, and made a run at selling banner advertising inventory for the ad space on the site.

A trip to SEMA to visit existing and potential sponsors, trips to local car shows, and continuous involvement in the enthusiast community with our own hobby-based vehicles continued to get the word out.

Startup.com was a truly inspiring documentary that we watched countless time during these years.

On the up-and-up

From '04-'05 we operated like a business: regular strategy meetings, constant site updates, new feature enhancements, active forums, and we had regular revenue coming in from sponsors, ad networks, and membership fees -- it was exhilarating. I could see it someday becoming a full-time gig if we really wanted to make a run at it. We just lacked the financial stability to go at it on our own for an extended period of time.

The day jobs take prescedence

In '06 I moved from Minnesota to North Carolina to pursue a career in online marketing with a Fortune 500 company. Essentially, I had found a day job doing exactly what was so exciting about SuperMotors.net. Being an online site, we felt that we could continue to run the hobby-based-business-that-we-secretly-hoped-would-be-a-full-time-business-someday as if the distance between us would not matter.

It mattered, and in a big way.

Web 2.0 was blowing up and our site was stagnant

The Web 2.0 hoopla was blowing up, web technology was crazy, and hosting was becoming cheaper by the minute -- all things that should have contributed to a healthier bottom line, new and innovative features, but they didn't. My two friends and I were no longer meeting regularly. My move away from the business' home state had made it extremely difficult to collaborate.

The day jobs were getting more exciting, too.

In 2008, we decided to sell.

The decision to sell

This was a tough, tough decision. By this point, we had 10 years into the site both as a hobby and a business. We knew what we had on our hands, but we did not have the means to take it to the next level that we wanted to -- and it was beginning to show. Site updates and feature enhancements were nonexistent. Support requests from our members would go unanswered for weeks. The site was stuck on cruise control at 40 MPH in a 75 MPH speed zone.

Falling victim to the economy

Our buyer in 2008 had to bail on the deal as we were closing in on a finalized sales agreement. So much time had passed since our decision to sell and when we drew up the papers that the economy had gone south, and so did the buyer's ability to finance the purchase. Up until this point, I had dodged the bad economy impact, but it became real when something as small as our website was a victim of the economy going south. Who knew?

Maybe we just weren't ready to sell. Did we have a renewed interest in the site? Was this the kick in the pants we needed?

Several months had passed after the deal fell through and it was clear that it was still the right move for us to sell.

Selling the business was the most difficult business decision

The decision to sell (again) was tough. It's not like we were living off of the site -- we weren't. We all had day jobs. At this point, we had not continued dialogue with sponsors and the site was running break-even. But it was the potential of what could be that was so enticing about the site and what was so troubling about the decision to sell. The "what if's" plagued us.

Admitting "I can't make this happen"

I had to objectively look at things. When I did this, it gave me the clarity I needed: I was not going to make this site into the success I hoped and knew it could be. I couldn't do it.

When you say this to yourself about something that essentially is within your control, it's a very difficult realization. But, on the flip-side, I have a successful career and the experience in setting up a business, operating a site, meeting with customers, interacting with the end-users -- it has all contributed to my professional experience and I had fun while doing it.

It was time to let somebody else do this. And by letting go, I was doing a favor to our end-users who had stuck with us for so long.

It's sold

As I write this, it's been nearly two weeks since selling the site. It didn't become real until I could no longer access the server or had control of the domains. It's on odd feeling, but there is a sense of relief that the site is in better and more capable hands now than it has been in a couple years. I no longer have a guilty conscience as I look in my inbox -- there are no more unanswered customer and/or end-user emails that I tell myself "I'll get to this weekend."

In the end, I made the right decision and have no regrets.

Old design = 20 headlines to scan. New design = 72 headlines to scan.

Previously, CNN.com provided a 2-headline synopsis of across 10 categories and at any given time throughout the day, I could visit their homepage and get a quick run-down of all that was going on in the world.

With the latest redesign, this quick run-down became much more time-consuming. And there was no way to tailor the news categories to my preferences. The previous website didn't offer this option either and was less important, but the new design now features 6 headlines across 12 categories.

That's 72 headlines I now have to scan as opposed to the previous 20 headlines. This is a huge increase in content and considerably more "work" to scan.

Google's "news" personalization, simplicity, and path of least resistance wins

I ventured upon news.google.com and found it quite easy to personalize the sections I am interested as well as sort them in the order of importance I want them to be in. This feature in itself was enough to win me over -- the way in which they aggregate news from multiple publications is also a benefit.

CNN.com's one-size-fits-all approach to homepage news doesn't appeal to me anymore. I've abandoned them because I've found an alternate service that meets my needs. What's interesting is CNN provides unique content but this is not enough to win me over because it's too difficult to get the information I desire quickly.

A commoditized business should focus product innovation on user experience and ease of use

"News" as a product is commoditized and is partially why newspapers are on the decline. If the product research or delivery mechanism doesn't cater to the changing needs of consumers or customers, then business will be lost to the competitive set. This concept applies to virtually all business, and not just news websites.

CNN.com offers a beautiful new redesign, but has chosen a path that devalues consumers who share my news-consumption preference. I don't know if this is intentional or not, but through further insight-gathering and subsequent innovation with their website, they would recapture my interest.

There are astute strategies to be found in each of the profiles in this issue. Here are 10 lessons that all e-retailers can take away from the innovations of this year’s Hot 100 online retailers.

1.) Connect with consumers

2.) Go mobile

3.) Be an expert source

4.) Make navigation more useful

5.) Personalize the experience

6.) Make tough purchases easy*

7.) Sell yourself

8.) Create a sense of urgency

9.) Connect site and store

10.) Play the value card

*Levolor.com was highlighted in the "Housewares / home / hardware" category and the feature can be seen here. More specifically, we addressed the #6 lesson above of "make tough purchases easy."

This is the synopsis graphic Internet Retailer publishes for each of the Hot 100 sites outlining things such as technologies and vendors/partners used:

1.) While watching the Vikings vs. Packers NFL game this evening, a commercial for HTC's new "You" campaign came on.

2.) Feeling so connected to it, I tweeted about it while on the couch with my laptop.

3.) Prior to tweeting about it, I had to find the video on YouTube to link to it in the tweet. I found it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-QhxjJFl7E

4.) In the YouTube comments, I saw the name of the artist that created the song used in the commercial. (It should be noted that I wasn't really looking to buy this song initially.)

5.) I copied & pasted the artist & song name into Google (search results here).

6.) Found the song on Last.fm. Was able to play it directly on Last.fm to verify that it was the correct song. It was.

7.) Clicked the "buy" button on Last.fm. That brought me to Amazon.com for a 1-click purchase.

$0.99 later and after couple minutes of my time, I now have the song.

The above scenario will only get easier.

The above scenario will only get easier and faster with fewer steps to the point of purchase. Convenience is key. If your industry or market hasn't been impacted by this, it will be. There may be technical limitations or generational preferences, but either way, both will catch up, align, and make buying your product as easy as it was for me to buy this song (even for someone not necessarily in the market).

A component of any E-Commerce strategy impacting end-buyers will ultimately need to incorporate channel strategy, too. Managing channel conflict, especially for manufacturers selling direct to consumers, is a critical component to your E-Commerce strategy. Pricing, promotions, product offerings, how you communicate where and how to buy your products — these all play into your E-Commerce Channel strategy.

I keep a running and constantly-updated definition of E-Business outlined here: http://www.ebusinessblog.org/what-is-ebusiness/ .

I prefer a cadence of every-other-week 1-on-1 meetings with direct reports. Your mileage may vary depending on number of direct reports, geographic location, etc.

Commit to a schedule

Whatever you do, when you schedule these meetings with your direct reports, don't reschedule them, and reschedule them, and reschedule them.

Nothing says "this conversation is not important to me" more than a meeting that repeatedly gets pushed back days or weeks after its originally scheduled day and time.

Depending on your position on the organizational chart, there may be a lot of preparatory work that your direct reports go through prior to a 1-on-1 meeting. Your availability may also be a premium, so your direct reports may queue up important discussions for that 1-on-1 session where they have your undivided attention that they would otherwise not be able to get.

Fish or cut bait

If the meeting is destined to never actually take place, then don't bother setting the expectation that you will meet in the first place -- it'll save time for everyone.

During this time of year especially, when everyone is busy, make the time to invest in meeting with your direct reports. After all, they are supporting your objectives and ultimately make you successful.