15 comments

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  John

  1 year ago

  If everyone had a website? What about if everyone had food?
  
  I think the reality is that not everyone will have a website let alone internet access. Additionally for some people the opportunity cost in setting up a website and the benefit that it would bring is minimal.
  
  I guess the point is that every business that has their phone number registered in the phone book should consider having a website. But having said that having a poorly built website may in fact be worse than not having a website at all as the perception could be that the business is not up to standard so this could be a double edged sword.
  
  What can be said though is that the use of the Internet is becoming more individualised. People now have emails and profiles of themselves on websites like Facebook etc. and most businesses have websites.
  
  But it may be that everyone and every business in the world does not become involved in the internet.
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  Steven Gordon

  1 year ago

  I guess this means you've fast-tracked the PayPal integrated SynthaCart? :)
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  Brett

  1 year ago

  I take a very different approach to e-commerce and these are my reasoning's.
  
  A personal or SME e-commerce site is only ever going to be as good as the time , effort, support and money put into the site.
  
  If an SME called ABC cranks up an "off the shelf" e-commerce site and now starts selling it's Elvis memorabilia, all very well and good, until they have a sell out of a particular item. The item is not flagged as out of stock, as the site is doing what it is there to do ie. generate sales...now ABC needs to spend valuable time and resources putting out fires trying to keep those Prosumers who are not going to get their already paid for goods A) Happy and B) coming back. Not going to happen.
  So ABC need's someone to baby sit the site just for stock control, if they had a Tech savvy person they would have a site already so now they need to employ someone to look after a site. ABC's site now becomes as efficient and effective as their new employee.
  
  This "off the shelf" commerce site is now costing ABC and they are wondering what the acronym SEO is they keep seeing.
  
  In the interim, our personal trader, has long given up on his commerce site as this is not what he envisaged, running the site is actually like running a business that's not why he signed up, so he let's the site just site around on the net, just like his Facebook profile to reminisce about the one that almost was.
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  JP Van Der Spuy

  1 year ago

  This post makes for great discussion. Brett you have a point, but there are more sides to your story as laid down to be. If your "off the shelf" commerce concept is a dead stubble block, you should consider studying entrepreneurs that find solutions around these issues.
  
  John, regarding that the internet is becoming more individualized... you got that spot on. The "we-commerce" concept Vinny expressed is the underlining definition of integrating the Social Media with an advanced e-commerce business model. The future of personalization is upon us and integrating Social Media with e-commerce is the next step in internet evolution I believe!
  
  Trust is currently still an issue in many terms and this new step into the future of the Web will give way for many entrepreneurs taking advantage of technology on hand and not only exploit these issues with e-commerce at current stage, but pioneer the future that personalization and Social Media Commerce ("we-commerce") has to offer!
  
  Vinny, you never seize to amaze. I think you could not have written a better article. Your Vision is what keeps you at the forefront of Big things.
  
  Hope all is well in Silicon Valley. Say hi to Mr.Ebay for me will ya!
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  Chris Hitchen

  1 year ago

  Stock control and fulfillment don't have to be issues for individuals that want to make money from ecommerce without taking on the risk of holding stock. That's the beauty of content aggregation. However for those who want more risk and reward...
  
  Mum and Dad sellers who rely on Ebay as their sole sales channel are forever beholden to Ebay's Ts and Cs, including price-rises or rules relating to payment methods (as is the case here in Australia where Ebay is experiencing a backlash from sellers after forcing sellers to use only Paypal). Sellers who have aspirations of becoming retailers must stand on their own two feet by creating independent sites with a brand, their own direct marketing and CRM capabilities, multiple sales channels etc. Australia's largest online-only retailers (like Deals Direct) moved on from Ebay a long time ago.
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  CT Moore

  1 year ago

  Your point about many SMEs not having the budget or know-how to get ecommerce enabled reminds me of MySpace. That network started out as a website solution for bands; it just turned out that there were more fans than bands, and some unsustainable growth ensued. The only questions now is whether MySpace will survive that unsustained growth long enough to revert back to being a network of band pages.
  
  Something about the "Centralized Me," however, is at odds with social media -- namely that it's egocentric. I think that a huge advantage that social network pages have over a run of the mill website is they are integrated with other pages and (therefore) individuals. That gives them a lot more reach, I think, in providing some kind of trust-meter.
  
  Then again, that just underscores your point about data-portability and how we need a way to carry trust from one network to the next. I agree that there's a huge impetus for something like Friend Connect or Facebook Connect.
  
  This all goes to beg the question, then, with that kind of data-portability, will anyone really need their own site anymore?
  
  I mean, wouldn't an eBay or CafePress site suffice?
  
  After all, with portable personal data, the communities to which we belong would be accessible from anywhere on the net we go.
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  Vinny Lingham

  1 year ago

  @CT: You make a great argument. I suppose the honest answer is that we don't know. I'm willing to bet though, that with data portability rife, there will still need to be a central repository for your life online...
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  R4 DS

  1 year ago

  "Sellers who have aspirations of becoming retailers must stand on their own two feet by creating independent sites with a brand,"
  
  That's exactly the point. The most professionalize, just like in other branches.
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  Elias Bizannes

  1 year ago

  I agree there will still need to be a centralised respository of your data. It could be Facebook, eBay, or your own blog. Whatever the case, once the standards are in place we should expect to be able to use our personal data like our cash. And just like how you can store your cash under your mattress, you are going to prefer to store it at a data bank where you can access it wherever you are like EFTPOS. Store it at a secure place you trust, and use it when you need to.
  
  However recognise that whilst you may want to store it in the one place, you could store it in multiple banks ie, your purchases with eBay, your friends list and address book with Facebook, etc.
  
  The point isn't so much on who stores it - but who can access it. DataPortability is about application interoperability. For a consumer to get the economic benefits over their data, they just need to be able to access it in another context.
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  Vinny Lingham

  1 year ago

  @Elias
  
  Thanks for your comment. My argument is simply that although your data can and will be stored at many different services, what is the central collection point that *you* as the consumer, chooses to release it as public information and share it outside a walled garden, such as Facebook. Obviously you won't share everything, but you will want to have a place where people can see your latest photos, movies, Twitter, etc.
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  JP Van Der Spuy

  1 year ago

  I agree Vinny, but it also raises the question regarding something like "Facebook Connect" and other "social networks" announcements of data portability. I also think one still has to remember that it is a social network. Let me give you an example....
  
  I go shopping on MyTrade.co.za and i search the site for a new poker set per ce. Now i find the poker set i want, but first want to see who is selling it by means of the data portability MyTrade implemented...
  
  ...now i see the person selling it... a lovely young lady, which makes me go look deeper into that person, add as a friend... and not before long i'm on Facebook browsing her family pics, house party she had, check out her friends... check out her friends, friends...
  
  now what just happened here? what happened to me searching for a poker set to purchase? my attention was completely shakin off MyTrade by something simple as doing a bit of research on this seller.
  
  MyTrade's gain would merely depend on the seriousness and discipline of the individual on hand not? what if something like a Business Network ID could be setup, something off the "flirt with me" app I just added and more professional than intruding your social environment with business?
  
  I'm not questioning the legitimacy of something like "Facebook Connect" or data portability as a whole, but even just the mention of something like Facebook could steer a potential Buyers attention off to a more social environment!
  
  How does one get around this issue? yet a bit far fetched at first glance, but there is some reality behind my theory i believe.
  
  your opinion please Vin.
  
  jpvanderspuy_dot_com
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  Vinny Lingham

  1 year ago

  Hey JP
  
  I think the notion of an "App" really has a lot of people confused as to the value of social networks. The value lies in the data as an aggregate ("Vinny has 1,500 friends, and therefore he is a trusted entity"). That tpe of logic and usefulness of social networks make much more sense to me. The idea of the social environment, is that it allows trust to be transferred, from offline to online.
  
  And I agree, most of those apps are rubbish... :-)
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  Terrence Kommal

  11 months ago

  i think apps are great if used properly even by SME's. Another great note for those who use features like 'status updates' to let friends know what is going on.
  
  We at SUTRA use it very effective, so much so that we have poeple calling in to enquire about some of this updates.
  
  I agreed with Vinny that the person value of networks is far greater than mass marketing alone!
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  Dontae

  10 months ago

  I absolutely agree with you that for many people, buying and selling through sites is a way of life. That's why thank you for your article. It is very good and useful for many people.User Generated eCommerce (We-Commerce) is really about consumers interacting and trading with each other using their own personal websites.
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  Eliezer

  9 months ago

  Well, I was really shocked to read that 72% of small businesses in the US still do not have a website. They lose a great opportunity to promote their goods. And I agree that commerce on the web needs to evolve.
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