Comments on: Retailers have improved the online shopping experience as far as they can

By: Where Are You On The S-Curve (And Which Curve Are You On)? « Ron Shevlin’s Marketing Whims

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:34:20 +0000

[...] 14, 2008 by Ron Shevlin Thanks, as always, to Bankwatch, for finding this from Doc Searls: Amazon and other excellent online retailers have improved the [...]

By: Colin

Colin — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:50:35 +0000

@Tom … couldn’t agree more, and I recall that article. Banks are a long way from using internet technology effectively, but yes, even if they did, where’s the differentiation?

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:41:24 +0000

This makes me think of the HBR article from 2003, “IT Doesn’t Matter.” The argument is Internet Technology is like a utility (think railroads, electricity, etc) which only provides a competitive advantage for a short time. Soon it will just be a business requirement.

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:36:55 +0000

@Jana …. true, there is always room for improvement. But I think that just by existing, and offerring a broad service, albeit with a clunky site, that the big shift has ocurred for vendors. Now what about purchasers, consumers – what about the tools for them? They purchase from others beyond Amazon. Amazon is just one vendor for consumers.

By: Jana

Jana — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:16:03 +0000

I don’t think a site like Amazon that is cluttered and overwhelming can be said to have “have improved the online shopping experience as far as a retailer can”. The online shopping experience isn’t just how well laid out and fast your chopping cart is. Its also about the graphic design and layout of your website.