The price comparison engines go part of the way to fulfilling consumer needs. The next levels are the marketplaces which have products from multiple sources, many categories and a shopping cart where you can buy products and pay online.
When selling online (or off line for that matter) you have to understand the demographic that you are selling to and how best to attract them to your website and have them buy. Multi-channel strategies allow you to do just that. By presenting your products in different portals you can get to different demographics in the very best ways.
Virtual Worlds like Second Life (www.secondlife.com) are becoming a new channel for the Gen-Y and a new challenge for merchants. Businesses are now starting to open virtual stores and marketplaces in the virtual worlds. These virtual communities have a real economy and are now starting to allow their inhabitants to browse virtual stores to buy real products. Yes, it is early days, but you must remember that the pace of change is rapid, so more on virtual worlds and Web 2.0 in the next article.
* John Debrincat is CEO of eCorner, www.ecorner.com.au
* The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of DYNAMICBUSINESS.com or the publishers.
Bookmark article at:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. powered by moSociable 1.0.1 by www.waltercedric.com
