Adoption of Social Navigation Continues

Late last month I shared with you the exciting launch of social navigation by Onlineshoes.com. I said then that while Onlineshoes was the first to do so, many retailers would soon follow and they have.

I am thrilled to share with you two more retailers that have integrated customer feedback directly into the site navigation. In conjunction with their platform provider GSI Commerce, Toys R Us and Dick’s Sporting Goods both began offering the social navigation experience on their respective sites.

So what does this really mean? Let me both explain and show you:

Toys R Us

On the Toys R Us site, shoppers visiting the Games and Puzzles Category can now browse for products based on highly relevant insights from customers just like them. Our customer reviews solution uses a tag-based approach for gathering data which can then be summarized and presented as additional filtering choices in the site navigation. In addition to narrowing selections by price, brand or color, shoppers at Toys R Us are only one click away from discovering games and puzzles that are easy to assemble or have clear instructions or great for the backyard. Equally important is the ability to find items recommended by other casual or avid game players or, which I think is incredibly empowering, are from Child Care Providers – now that is one voice that many folks might want to hear from.

Here are some of the navigational choices now available in the Games and Puzzles category:

Pros

• Awesome
• Clear Instructions
• Easy Assembly

Best Uses

Backyard
Creative Development
Entertainment

User Profile

• Avid Gamer
• Casual Player
• Child Care Provider

While powered by the same technology, the experience on Dicks Sporting Goods is excitedly different in both presentation and filtering choices presented to the shoppers. The new tags ideally capture the voice of the reviewer in terms of the type of golfer they are and the specific product attributes they are interested in, allowing the shopper to connect with the product.

Visiting the Golf Clubs, Drivers category, avid shoppers quickly notice the addition of star ratings in the product list display – immediately signaling that reviews must be near by!
Dick’s Sporting Goods

The names for the customer feedback section headers are slight different with more intimate headers like Why I like it and About me. With this implementation, shoppers can quickly and easily find the drivers that match them and their interests such as the most accurate for off the tee use by other beginners like me. And with just three clicks the shopper is presented with 10 products to choose from out of the original 79 drivers presented.

Why I like it

• Accurate
• Comfortable
• Large sweet spot

How I use it

• Long Holes
• Off the tee
• Replacement

About me

• Beginner
• Casual player
• Golf Enthusiast
• Tournament golfer

I invite you all to see these experiences for themselves and play around and watch the magic happen.

Oh, and one final note. There are those out there that are saying that their site offers social navigation just because they integrated the rating level into their navigation – such as shop for items that are 4 Star or higher. While this “technically” can qualify as social navigation, it certainly does not capture the spirit or experience that the term suggests. In fact that is like referring to a Vespa as a motorcycle! So beware out there – make sure you know what you want and don’t settle for less!

Guess who’s coming to dinner?

We know they can put together incredible Annual Summits and workshops, but can Shop.org host a regional dinner? The answer is YES – they certainly can!

Several months ago PowerReviews signed up to co-host the San Francisco dinner event with MyBuys with minimal expectations as this is really “their” event – meaning they select the restaurant, menu, and handle most of the guest list. And while they do keep attendance strictly limited only to retailers, there is a good chance that you could find yourself underwriting a dinner with guests that can’t use or aren’t even interested in your products or services. So again, minimal expectations.

One truism about setting the bar “low” in terms of expectations is that they are often met. Well, last night’s event went well beyond meeting expectations, they hit it so far out of the park that Barry Bonds is still going back for the ball!

The location was ideal as Morton’s restaurant is just a block off of Union Square, making it an ideal locale for the out-of-towners. Morton’s is known for great food, wine and service – all making the perfect foundation for excellent dinner conversations. The room was filled with an interesting mix or more than 50 retailers – large, small, well known, niche – all adding their fun perspective to the conversation. Some retailers actually flew in from LA and Seattle to make this event so the energy in the room was high and from the start everyone felt comfortable, engaged and committed to having a great time.

I dare not share more with you as I think all of you should experience at least one of these nights first hand, plus I just might let slip and mention the exciting new retailer that soon will debut on Buzzillions. Let me close then by saying hats to Larry Joseloff, Victoria all the folks at Shop.org who work so hard to put these events on!

And here is the schedule of dinners still planned for remainder of 2008: https://www.nrf.com/shoporg/regional/SignUp.asp

Make your reservation today!

I’m on top of the world – Omniture Summit ‘08

In the world of marketing there is “impressive” and then there is IMPRESSIVE. I can honestly tell all of you that of the dozens and dozens of trade shows and conferences that I have attended, I have never seen one so well managed, organized, empowering, inspiring and well, impressive, at this year’s Omniture Summit ‘08 in Salt Lake City.

Leaving the opulent and grand setting of the Grand America aside for another discussion, the show’s content, professionalism mixed with the “family” culture of the Omniture Organization makes this event a never to be missed. This culture, the caring of an entire organization that every customer achieves the highest level of success by using their products and services, is undoubtedly why this company – recently chosen as one of the Top 50 Most Innovative companies in the world – attracted the throngs of people it did with 2,000 people in attendance. In fact, it was the largest EVER user conference for online marketing and web analytics professionals in the world.

Now take all that information and technology and applications and mix it with inspiring key notes from Lance Armstrong and Seth Godin and you leave wanting to change the entire world – your world at home, work and play. At the end of his talk, Lance was presented with a $50,000 check from Omniture for his foundation on behalf of all us attendees as well as another $100,000 pledge by the entire Omniture executive team. In closing, Lance challenged everyone in the partially teary-eyed audience to get involved, make a difference and be part of the cure – for whatever aspect of life or community that you see is ailing.

That next morning, Seth Godin entertained, dazzled and as always awakened the crowd with lots of new ideas from his new book Meatball Sundae which “explores the 14 trends that are changing the world and how organizations can either embrace them or be punished by them.” On a more personal note, I had the chance to re-introduce myself to Seth after these many years since first engaging with him when he served on the Board of Directors at Ofoto.com. Some of you might recall that my very first Internet job was as Ofoto when I joined that incredible start-up as employee #20! I had the very distinct pleasure at that time to meet Seth a few times back then and be schooled by the master himself. I credit much of the success I have achieved these past many years to those times when he would he openly shared his Internet perspectives with our management team. So do make sure to read his newest book Meatball Sunday as it is yet another “must read” from this industry genius.

So what do you do next when you have been to the top of the technology mountain these past few days, well you go climb – or ski – a mountain of your own. And so I did, I skied the slopes at Snowbird all day with my dear friends at Omniture, Derek Bryce, David Blake, and Todd Trippany, soaking in the unparalleled vistas, great conversations and fantastic friendships.

Before I sign off, I must say how great it was to see the enormous success that all my friends at Omniture have achieved these past five years, since I first became a client of theirs while at Wine.com in 2003. So hats off to Josh James, John Pestana, Mark Dillon, Mark Stock, Don Cash, Chris Harrington, Brett Error, Mike Herring and the rest of the incredible team there. But special recognition must be made to Gail Ennis and Stuart Gold who put on one heck of a show!

Mind the Gap!

If any of you have ever traveled the London Underground – or the “Tube” as they refer to it here, they you know what I am talking about. For those of you that don’t, then let’s just say it is the sometimes WIDE distance between the car and the platform. And trust me on this one friend, there are times when this gap is best kept in mind when departing.

And if you really want to take the pulse of London, or any metro area for that matter, just ride public transportation and you will see and hear all that is afoot especially in terms of media advertising. So what did I immediately see while looking around the Tube, well lots and lots of dot.com advertisements!

Besides the overabundance of broadband service, there was the familiar Match.com as well as these: lastminute.com that caters to last minute travelers in search of deals, there was confused.com, insureandgo.com, both about insurance needs.

Why I am blogging about dot.coms and Mind the Gap, you see, is that the gap in offline and online behavior in the U.K. has significantly lessened or “shrunk” since my last visit in March 2007. Last March, before joining PowerReviews, I had the distinct honor of serving on Mercado’s Customer Advisory Board. And it was at that time that they sponsored a brief speaking tour for me here in London to address a few crowds of their customers and prospects. It was then that I took a significant inventory of the online business in the U.K. as well as made some projections of my own in terms of how fast this metro would further embrace the online world of ecommerce and “catch-up” to the U.S. pace and adoption.

And from what I have seen since my arrival, this capital city is now on par with the best that the U.S. has to offer in terms of awareness, penetration and adoption of online shopping. Besides the mini-billboard type advertisements in the underground, every fun and trendy shop I have passed these past days has their URL firmly painted and planted on their storefront windows.

So while there will always be a gap between tube trains and their platforms, the gap in online shopping adoption between the U.K. and the U.S. has notably changed for the better. Now, I guess I better just Mind the Doors as this train is ready to depart.