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"E-Commerce is More than Technology"
By Peter Bohush
An interesting phenomenon that is occurring in the online sales environment is
the perception of increased personalization occuring at retail and other e-commerce
websites.
This is ironic, given the highly impersonal nature of using a computer to
"talk to" others or make purchases. Yet many online retailers are using elements
of both database marketing and virtual communities to create the illusion of interpersonal
communication.
It's not the TECHnolOGY... IT's tHe PRoCESS that's ImporTant.
These websites "know" you, or at least know what you have done there
before and the information you may have provided about yourself. The online retailer, or
"e-tailer," offers up "personalized" suggestions about other products
the consumer may wish to purchase. This is accomplished by the savvy use of relational
database technologies: if others who purchased Item 1 also purchased Item 2, then the
system is on the lookout for someone who purchases Item 1, and offers up Item 2 in the
hopes of creating an impulse buy.
This is hailed as a breakthrough in the use of technology. Yet while these
online sites certainly are excellent adopters of computer-based marketing, it's not the
technology that sells Item 2. That item will sell through any channel that communicates to
the consumer. It's the selling process itself that sells the product.
Imagine that the same consumer was purchasing Item 1 in the checkout stand of a
physical store. During the transaction, the sales clerk's computer screen displayed
information about the consumer's past buying habits and also noted that Item 2 was popular
among similarly patterned consumers. The sales clerk sees this and shows Item 2 to the
consumer, stating that other consumers have purchased Item 2 (the herd-mentality pitch)
and asks if the consumer would like to try Item 2 as well (the suggestive sale pitch).
The sale of Item 2 would probably occur as often in this situation as online.
(Even "dumb" suggestive selling can be successful: how many times have you
purchased french fries from a drive-thru just because you were asked if you wanted any?)
People's neeDs DOn'T chANGe intrinSIC bEHavioRs onLINE.
When a computer "system" pushes an aDD-ON sale, consumers may be
initiaLLy recEptive due to the novelty factor, but may in time become Less SO.The sales
cleRk who offers up the suGGestion, on the other HANd, would be seen as knowLEDgeable and
helpFUL, and would contRibute to buildinG good wiLL between the retailer and the customer.
In this age of diminished customer service, even the perception that the sales
clerks know their products and care about their customers would be a winning proposition.
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