There’s no doubt that the web has changed and will continue to change commerce. However, the current notion that I’m going to go to sites to search for a product to buy has a fundamental flaw. A flaw that makes shopping more inefficient than it needs to be.
Here’s the problem. Most of the time I don’t think people are trying to buy one thing. Yet all of the online shopping tools have this in mind. Here’s a single line text field and type what you’re looking for. It’s wrong.
Shopping–the real kind of shopping that I want my computer to help me with–is an optimization problem more akin to scheduling than single-text entry searching.
Of course, the challenge here is to design a shopping “scheduling” service that’s no more difficult to use than say searching for something online.
Here’s one of several problems that the current shopping search tools bubble up: They over emphasize price. This is not a good thing for the store, nor do I think it’s a good thing for the consumer. Price at any cost is not always a good thing. What about product delivery times? Ability to return a product? And so on.
It makes complete sense, therefore, for shopping tools to help me focus on more than price. This is particularly true if I need to purchase more than one thing.
Now Amazon has done OK with its integrated customer reviews and “you might also be interested in XYZ” suggestions, however, this isn’t what I think most people want–unless they are truly wanting to buy only one thing. Now stores can leverage getting you in the door and into their walled garden with one good product price and then try to upsell you, but as a consumer that’s not what I want.
Put another way, I think most of the shopping search sites should focus more and more on shopping as a goal. I want this type of product to solve this type of problem. I may think I know what I want, but maybe I’m not right. Maybe I can be persuaded otherwise. Help me out.
And then let’s say I understand what I need better, then help me get what I need in an optimized way. Can I purchase everything locally in one trip to a single store within 10 miles of where I’m at? Can I “purchase” from one place that then manages the delivery of my items so I get them all on the same day so I don’t have to worry about packages arriving over three days? Or what about sales and coupons and best times to buy either historically or based on current price opportunities?
On the flip side to all of this, I think most shopping search sites need to rethink how they facilitate grazzing. Why aren’t more sites about images than text? Shouldn’t the images be the lead and the text secondary? Sure for the computer it’s the other way around, but it shouldn’t be for the human. Just look at any printed catalog.
Lastly, I think there’s another whole opportunity that’s way underserved for shopping on the go. When I have my shopping list, tell me where everything is in the store. When I’m looking for something point me to where I might find it. When I’m stuck and can’t find something in a store, give me an online chat person if nothing else–it would be faster than trying to track down someone and asking them where something is.
Anyway, lots to do. That’s for sure.