Written by Fernando Maciá
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The e-shop model, understood as a virtual storefront or online self-service, is clearly outdated. Today, Internet users demand transparency, usability and participation. The Web 2.0 model is an emerging phenomenon that places this type of user at the center of any business model, providing the greatest added value, integrating content and functionalities in a usable way and encouraging user participation and active listening to the voice of the customer.
Web 2.0 is not a new standard, but a new way of understanding and using the Web that was perhaps already at the germ of what Tim Berners-Lee intended to be what, by opposition, has been Web 1.0: a collaborative environment in which companies, institutions, consumers, users and citizens could share information and knowledge. Today, the generalization of Web 2.0 models and functionalities is giving rise to a different way of consuming content and information in which customers, as well as consumers, become an active part of the generation of that same content. This is what has been called the “prosumer revolution (producers and consumers at the same time)”.
Although it is true that the collaborative spirit of Web 2.0 was already present on the Internet, a series of coinciding factors have now favored its recent generalization:
- The penetration of Internet access, especially broadband connections, has accelerated the generalization of Internet use, its extension to the general public and the smoothing of the learning curve of the technologies involved.
- Powerful, usable and accessible Web analytics systems have made real-time feedback on what works and what doesn’t work available to Web site managers, who can take advantage of that feedback to correct and refine their online business models.
- The standardization of certain information exchange formats such as XML or RSS favors the integration of content and functionalities and greater permeability between Web sites to create a much more positive user experience.
In addition to these factors, the global financial crisis itself could act as a catalyst by creating a scenario that favors organizations that had not yet made a clear commitment to the Web model, but are now forced to do so by circumstances. To these must be added a legion of entrepreneurs coming from employment readjustment processes who may see the Internet as an affordable business opportunity. It happened before with the dotcom crisis in 2000: it accelerated the process of transformation from Web sites as mere virtual storefronts to betting on initiatives that could demonstrate a return on investment in the short term.
Transparency and usefulness, the most demanded values
Today’s Internet user demands functionality, added value and maximum usability. It prefers vertical hotel and travel search engines where you can directly compare offers from a large number of providers: airlines, hotel chains, car rentals. Even on a single brand’s own websites, the traveler is offered the possibility to compare prices when there is flexibility in travel dates, but how long will it be before offers from other allied airlines (e.g. OneWorld) or even direct competition are also included?
Although it may seem utopian now, gaining the loyalty of a user who values transparency and the added value of always having the best options to make the right purchase decision may soon become more important than the short-term perspective of pursuing the sale at all costs by closing the available options. It is about adding value by filtering knowledge, adding content and functionalities that are recombined to convert the user experience into something positive: that the visitor always finds something useful that encourages him to return.
Today, no one wants to rent a gîte without reading the opinions of previous tenants. We consult the comments of visitors to hotels or restaurants. Even knowing that some of these opinions may be biased, users tend to attribute greater credibility to the establishment in which, within a positive tone in the users’ opinions, some negative criticism can also be found than to those in which no opinion is published. Consumers themselves become, in fact, producers of information and, therefore, the best (or worst) prescribers.
From virtual showcase to prosumers
In the retail trade, we can see how Amazon has long been integrating Web 2.0 functionalities: opinions of other buyers, cross-selling, comparisons, literary, musical or film reviews… In short, we can see that the trajectory of virtual stores follows similar evolutionary patterns to real stores, starting from the first Web models:
- Virtual offer or showcase: in the real world, we would talk about the level of attention that can be found in a self-service store. It was the first generation e-commerce model.
- Personalized offer: the store of a lifetime, the one that knows my buyer profile and makes product recommendations according to it. In the online world, if we are Amazon customers, their home page will always present us with a personalized offer according to our buyer profile.
- Dialogue with the consumer: the one that in addition to knowing my tastes, maintains an attitude of active listening to detect where it could improve its offer. We have seen it on the Internet on pages where we can, for example, assess the usefulness of the information presented.
And, moving to the Web 2.0 model:
- Sharing information among consumers: encourages buyers of a product to share experiences. From sharing recipes in the butcher’s queue to wine tasting and pairing, to tuppersex meetings or Reader’s Circle referral awards. On the Internet, we see it in user forums and, more spontaneously, in the many social networks: fans on Facebook, groups on MySpace, opinions on Twitter, discussions on LinkedIn…
- Integrate consumers in the generation of Web content itself as prescribers or even active participants (prosumers): through user opinions, the MapShare of the Tom Tom navigator user community, the questions and answers on real estate topics on Trulia Voices, etc.
Today, users can share their bibligraphic preferences with Shelfari, their images and videos with Flickr, YouTube or Vimeo; they post job offers on LinkedIn or become fans of the Stratocaster guitar on Facebook.How long will it be before we can (will we want to?) share our Amazon or eDreams shopping history on our MySpace profile, for example?
Online corporate reputation
When it comes to integrating certain Web 2.0 functionalities such as user reviews and forums, first-generation Web site managers may perceive this as a threat. Indeed, it is to some extent easy, for example, to misrepresent the opinions of users or to publish self-serving criticisms of competitors. In the real world, this attempt by companies to favorably influence public opinion has been the traditional work of public relations agencies and press offices.
In the virtual world, properly managing the voice of the customer not only in the media controlled by the company (its own Web site, its user forums that it can moderate) but also in the media that it cannot control (social networks) will become a fundamental part of its online corporate reputation. Getting opinion leaders who know how to properly navigate blog pages, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, who are active listeners and who act as company interlocutors validated by their prospects is an important short-term goal.
Soon, the inability to display user reviews may become a greater threat than posting a negative review. Users are more suspicious of those who show no opinion than of those who manifestly demonstrate a transparent attitude. Collaterally, integrating the voice of the customer into the Web site’s content will have a positive impact on the search engine positioning of our pages. Reviews are always fresh content, constantly renewed, and integrate exactly the words that potential users use to refer to a given product or service.
Attitude 2.0
The Web 2.0 model is nothing more than the translation to the Internet of an attitude that places the user at the center of any business model. Beyond the integration of a series of functionalities in the Web site:
- Real-time comparison of features and prices of similar offers. Offering related products, cross-selling
- Integration of third-party content and functionalities
- Encouraging the integration of own content in third parties via XML, RSS, API…
- Web sites in permanent beta
- Incorporation of opinions, user forums, collaboration of prosumers in the generation of content…
the Web 2.0 model requires the company to understand that its online presence is not only on its own Web site, but also on search engines, social networks, blogs and chats, forums… and that any attitude towards its customers -positive or negative- will have a consequent impact. The effort to manage communication with potential users not only involves more effective communication and active listening, but must also be transferred to the entire business model, aspiring to offer the user the combination of products and services that will provide maximum utility and managing any complaint as an opportunity to improve the quality of the service. and reputation generation.
The current economic crisis opens a window of opportunity for e-commerce models that adopt this 2.0 attitude first to gain a competitive advantage over the self-service store, which in the very short term will appear to users as an obsolete and opaque model. In times of crisis, it is important to win the loyalty of users and the 2.0 attitude is what users demand today. It is a challenge worth responding to.
