Nov 29 2010
Shopping Online Keeps Getting Easier
Two companies have done something we’ve learned over and over again (provided you took the right courses!) during the MBA program. Look, listen, and learn from your customers. In this case, the customers are online shoppers, and a startup called Superfish and another company named Google (like you need a hyperlink there!), whom you may have heard of, have done the above, and reacted appropriately.
Superfish has designed an app called Window Shopper, which is a browser add-on for IE and Firefox. In a nutshell, if you’re shopping for something online, you can click a “See Similar” button next to the photo of the item. A lovely bubble will pop up that shows prices, pictures, and availability of similar products on various other websites. While the idea is great, there are most definitely some glitches, which can be read about here.
Next is Google and Boutiques.com. Not to be confused with boutique.com. This site, in its current state, is primarily an aggregator of shopping products for women. Reviews of the site aren’t all that glowing thus far, although I’m sure Google will react and adjust.
What both of these sites have done is understand how people currently shop online, and come up with a way to ease that process. The majority of online shoppers tend to start their search with a keyword search on Google, followed by an adventure across multiple websites, comparing and contrasting prices and models. Both of these sites have addressed the excessive amount of time some spend in order to find the best deal. While Google seems to have missed the social interaction mark with their site, and Superfish’s app isn’t working perfectly, they both understand the current limitations consumers experience shopping online, and have created viable solutions. They just need a little tweaking. In my humble opinion, I think these types of aggregators sites are going to become far more commonplace. In addition to a major change in online retailer website layouts, which are lacking any degree of intuitiveness and functionality right now.