Don’t throw out your discarded Cell Phones and MP3 players. EMusic is offering cash, paypal and even charitable donation options. That charitable idea is great, and I’m glad they’re offering it!
Anybody who offers Larry Norman downloads is already rocking in my book!
Not that I’m encouraging anyone to spend more money this season, but if you’re interested, Larry Chase sent out a list of interesting of shopping sites that you might want to check out. I think I’ve written about some of this before, but here are the highlights:
FruCall – One quick call tells you if an online price beats the store price. “Frucall not only reads back the best online prices to you, but it also allows you to buy items directly from online merchants while you’re on the phone!”
CyberMonday – Shop.org set up this site to show all the various deals online today.
Dealcatcher – Comprehensive list of online and offline deals.
Like.com – A shopping search engine. This is an interesting concept that captures photos of celebrities and allows you to search fashion items they are wearing and find similar items for sale.
Shop Local – Find all the deals in your neck o’ the woods.
Pronto – Named “”Best Online Price Comparison Site” in 2006 by Kiplinger’s, this site searches product reviews to create an overall product rating and then it connects you to various online merchants.
ThisNext – This a social shopping site that lets you connect with like-minded to find their recommendations on specific products.
Kaboodle – Another social shopping site that lets you organize your wish lists from various sites on the web.
Bidnearby – Find the closest ebay auctions to your zip code area and save or avoid shipping.
Google Checkout – It’s growing.
Simon Simeonov sees some interesting implications of Web 2.0 for E-Commerce. Here are three trends he observes:
1. First, expect a significant move to more interactive user experiences delivered through rich internet applications (RIAs). “The main goal will be reducing shopping cart & checkout abandonment…”
Doug thoughts: From a useability standpoint, I think most carts flunk. But newer AJAX models may solve the problems of way too many steps. As long as we can think human-centered and not just cool. Of course, the cart is fundamental for E-Commerce but there are so many other possibilities for RIAs.
2. The second trend is accelerating disaggregation, brought about by the dual forces of focusing on core competencies and leveraging network effects. … “The most successful services will reduce the barriers to purchase across sites.”
Doug thoughts: The interconnecting between sites and services is changing the landscape in ways that most companies cannot fully grasp yet. But it will most certainly change the way we understand brand and marketing.
3. The third trend is social commerce, which comes in two flavors: content-driven and interaction-driven, or passive vs. active. Combined with disaggregation, it means that social commerce will happen everywhere, not just on the e-commerce sites.
Doug thoughts: I think Netflix friends is one amazing example of on site social commerce.
Amazon has added a comment functions on reviews. Users can comment on reviews, and then police comments. I will be interesting to see how well this takes off.
The list of social shopping sites is growing. New York Times ran a piece on the growth of this new phenomenon. In a way, its an expansion of the Amazon reviews. Anytime I buy I book, I almost always check out the Amazon reviews/debates. It is fascinating to see how these review pages often become an ongoing conversation or argument among Amazon reviewers. Take this to the next level, social shopping allows people to share their passion for a variety of products and to build a community of friends at the same time.
Check out some of these social shopping sites:
Wists
Amazon Unbox Video Downloads unveils today with a variety of movies and TV shows available for download. Unfortunately their not DVD burnable but the quality is supposed to be good. By the end of the year, there should be a wide variety of downloading services and all our movie access options will expand.
(Via NYT)
Looks like MySpace is entering the music download world. Soon they’ll be offering bands on MySpace the opportunity to sell their music downloads at whatever prices the bands decide (MySpace will charge bands a distribution fee).
By the end of the year, Mr. DeWolfe said, MySpace will offer independent bands that have not signed with a record label a chance to sell their music on the site. MySpace says it has nearly three million bands showcasing their music.
Songs can be sold on the bands’ MySpace pages and on fan pages, in MP3 digital file format, which works on most digital players including Apple’s market-dominating iPod. (New York Times)
For the last couple issues, Springwise has been talking about a trend to businesses building space in virtual worlds. SecondLife (a virtual community for 18-year-and above) has become a virtual home for Scion, Aloft Hotels, American Apparel, and
This is an interesting trend and business. Not sure how big it will be but it does open new questions about space, commerce and reality.
Web 2.0 auctions with a twist (online personalities, social networking, and continuously dropping prices). Check it out: http://www.zeedive.com/
via Springwise.
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