Sometimes it's Better to be Different

After reading the professor's blog this week about the E-commerce business model, I started thinking about ways in which a website could be a success. One thing I thought could be an important aspect for an E-commerce business model  is differentiation,  how you can make you website so it differs from other competition. Operating an online business could be very profitable, but it is important that your website stands out in order to be successful. There is so much clutter in the online world that it is important to incorporate differentiation into your business plan. I found a website that describes some of the things that can be done in order to achieve differentiation with your website. Some things suggested were to find out how you can differentiate yourself from competitors. Are you going to offer faster, less expensive shipping, or have a wider selection of inventory? Whatever it may be, it is important that it is well thought out.

Another way to achieve differentiation with your website could be with the products or services that you may be offering. Instead of offering products or services that you can find through many websites, you can offer something to a specific market niche. Let's say that you decide to start an online clothing retailer for example. They are all over the place on the internet. So how are you going to make your website stand out? One way could be to target to a specific market, for example, people like expensive designer clothing for a lower price. This is probably what the creator of websites like Bluefly.com had in mind when starting their online business. Can you can think any successful websites are targeted to specific market niche, feel free to post any...

Behavioral Advertising: Friend or Foe??

For the past few days I have been searching online for a Halloween costume, then I started realizing advertisements for costumes on my browser. Is this coincidence?? I think not. This is what is referred to as behavioral advertising, where companies monitor your Internet surfing in order to target the "right" consumers for their product or service. It's something that is rather harmless, but I'm sure that many people may think that it is an invasion of their privacy. Consumers will now have the option to opt out of advertisements or to change their advertising  preferences by clicking on an Advertising Option Icon.

It seems that in some cases, it may be rather convenient in the sense that it may help you find what you are looking for, with the advantage of searching for the best price. For example, when making travel arrangements you always want  to find the cheapest fares for your hotel and/or airfare. In that sense, behavior advertising may not be such a bad thing. It could show advertisements for different travel companies and you may get lucky and find cheaper prices. However, if you are searching for something that you might consider private, you may not want advertisements for what you are searching for to be all over your browser, especially if it is a shared computer. This also comes back to the issue where people feel that it is an invasion of privacy and who don't want their Internet surfing patterns monitored. This new icon will benefit those people that do not want to receive those specific advertisements.

Some marketers believe that this will improve targeting their consumers. Consumers will have the option to completely opt out of certain advertisements, or select topics that they might be interested in. With consumers having this option, marketers can be more successful in finding their target consumers.Find out more here: ttp://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-100410.

One thing that I do wonder how many people will realize that this option even exist. Also, if they know its there, how many people will know what it is. Unless someone starts advertising this new option, I don't think that many people will understand it is and how it can help them.

You never know who's watching....

I guess it was only a matter of time before someone came up with the idea of paying someone to watch surveillance videos via internet. Internet Eyes pays its members to watch live feed of businesses in order to prevent shoplifting. It seems like a pretty cool idea. Businesses can register through the website and have people constantly monitoring the business.

I just wonder how effective this system really is. Sure, you click a button when you see suspicious activity but how long before someone actually sees it and acts on it. By the time authorities are notified, the criminals would probably be long gone. I assume that this is mainly something for smaller businesses. Larger businesses would be better off with an internal loss prevention team to ensure that shoplifting is at a minimum.

One should also consider the privacy issues facing Internet Eyes.  After doing some research, it seems as though the only real issue would be someone using the video is a way they're not supposed to, for example, posting it on YouTube. Some people are do feel like it is a serious privacy issue. http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs-archive/nicolek/2009/10/06/interent-eyes-cctv-game-lets-us-all-be-big-brothers/. However, the company seems to have that situation under control by making you agree to their terms of us. Internet Eyes also gathers their member's personal information, which could also avoid these problems from happening or take action is they do.