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The key to differentiation in the commoditized online marketplace

Posted January 20, 2012 05:33 PM by Ola Bateman    

Amazon is changing the retail landscape with its new app. You may not realize it, but it is happening on a grand scale. Consider this, shopping at your fine local retailer and you come across some electronic that you must have, and you whip out your smart phone to check the price on Amazon with the new Price Checker app. Amazon will tell you the price of the item and will give you competitive prices from its marketplace for the same item. So essentially you can buy it right there on the spot at the lowest price - either through the store or through your mobile device online.

Well that is novel, and a great way for Amazon to stay competitive.  It also puts all brick and mortar retailers in check - until they can serve up digital pricing displays that can check prices online in real time to stay competitive. Amazon is a master at its craft. They have changed the online retail model. The marketplace is the new model, and whoever has the thinnest margin while still managing to eke out a profit will win. I wonder how long before the brick and mortar store becomes a front for the online store where customers buy online from within the physical store? Anything is possible. So what are your differentiators at this point? Service and experience. These are the keys to loyalty.

So what are you doing to improve your online customer service and deliver the optimal user experience?  How easy is it to navigate your site as a new customer?  What hurdles do they have to jump through to accomplish a conversion event? Every hurdle is an abandonment risk. Continual optimization and utilization of customer feedback channels are your only defense, and perhaps your single differentiator in a commoditized marketplace.

Tags: TouchCommerce, online customer service, conversion, customer experience, Conversion Marketing; online customer experience