Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Collaborative Shopping is Catching a Wave

The idea of collaborative shopping is very much in tune with our current use of the internet as a sharing tool. The popularity of social media of all kinds confirms this trend. But retailers and other vendors need to adapt their own websites to enable meaningful collaborative shopping for their customers. And they are, but too slowly. Check out this article on the subject.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Emergence of the Data Scientist

Big data has dominated the news in the business world for the past year. If anyone ever doubts the veracity of those claims that big data is important, consider the emergence of the Data Scientist. This is a new job type that didn't exist only a couple of years ago. But now companies are scrambling to fill their new Data Scientist positions. And they are lucrative. Starting salaries run in the $110,000 to $120,000 range. Universities are adding new courses and even majors. Stanford is planning a new masters track in the field.

The Data Scientist is a new role, but one that will be around for the long term. The internet is making, and will continue to make, more data available to companies and they are learning that a judicious use of those data can increase their opportunities and decrease their risk. Check out this article on the subject.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Bring Your Own Cloud

The phenomenon of "Bring Your Own Device", where companies allow their people to connect their own personal devices to the company networks, is getting to be old hat. More and more companies are making the leap and finding ways to adopt their security policies appropriately.

Now some are touting a "new" trend, although one could argue it just goes along with the BYOD trend. That's the idea of Bringing Your Own Cloud.

BYOC comes from the fact that many people use their personal devices in the cloud. Two examples are iPhones and iPads being used with iCloud. In fact that's the default storage area for them. Ams there are also services like Dropbox, which is very popular for storage as well as backup.

The issue of course is security. There's a widespread assumption, not without merit, that it is more difficult to establish an adequate measure of security over the cloud than over internal servers. Certainly it raises additional issues, which in turn raises the cost of security.

Here's an article on the subject.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Home Tweet Home

The internet is entering the home in so many ways these days. One major app is security systems, which have been connecting web cams for years now. But security companies are now getting into it big time. In this article, there is an excellent summary of many of the other apps out there. Linking to your thermostats, house locks, lights, heating, washing machines, refrigerator, dishwashers, motion sensors etc. And using Twitter to communicate. Adds a whole new dimension to home management. Here's the article.

Friday, May 17, 2013

An Important Advancement in Mobile Payments.

Square is a company that has introduced important innovations for mobile payments in the past. One has been their dongle that attaches to an iPhone and enables the reading of credit cards. Most recently, the company has introduced the Square Stand, a small unit that attaches to a counter and holds an iPad which can be used to process sales. It can handle sales in cash, debit card and credit card and also provides a POS system as well as customer data for analytics. It costs $299.

In other words, for a small business, it provides an option for small business to implement a POS and CRM system and replace their cash register all for a very affordable amount.

It's an important innovation and another one of many that are starting to utilize the utility and adaptability of the ubiquitous iPad. Another spreading use involves hotel receptions, where an iPad is provided to guests (for the duration of their stay) containing useful information about the hotel and the community. Checkout and other financial apps are just around the corner for these iPads.

For a more on the Square Stand, check out this review.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Data Monetization

Data is being monetized and commodified with increasing frequency, thus providing an economic framework for the collection and use of big data. Here's an article I recently published on this topic.

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Selling on eBay the Business Way

eBay was one of the major early eBusiness success stories. It still is a success story and offers up a retail outlet for a variety of business that wish to grow their online activity. eBay provides the facility to list a business and have it's own website within the greater eBay environment. In addition, it offers many practical aids to help you present your business to the world. It isn't for everyone, but it can be an effective way to get into or expand your online selling. Here's an article with a few useful suggestions on how to make best use of eBay.

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Data Sharing - Is Anything Private Anymore?

The attitudes of people using the internet, particularly younger people, about data on the net are well known. Generally there is the point of view that all data should be free. And while numerous businesses, such as the conventional newspapers have been trying to fight this view, they have not succeeded very well.

A second aspect of the new attitudes is that all data is available to be shared. In other words, if it is free, then there is no problem with sharing it with anyone who is interested in it.

Multiply there attitudes with the use of social media and you have a situation in which it becomes increasingly difficult for any company to shield its information from public dissemination. It's very difficult to keep information confidential.

This is a major social upheaval, since data confidentiality has been one of the cornerposts of corporate strategy since time began. Essentially it is a cornerpost of any strategy. Determining when and how to release information is always a fundamental part of a strategy.

We haven't seen the full impact of this trend yet, because there has not been enough time for it to develop and, in addition, the younger people who hold most strongly to the free information concept have not yet reached the levels of corporate hierarchies where they are privy to a lot of sensitive strategic information.

One likely outcome is an increased emphasis by corporate management on "controlling the message". by implementing tighter controls over release of information, speaking with one voice and establishing much more severe sanctions over the people who breach these rules. We already see some governments moving in this direction.

We can expect considerable movement of companies into this space over the next few years. For a take on part of this issue, check out this article.

Friday, May 03, 2013

Selling on Mobiles Now a Necessity

The incredible growth of mobile unit usage has been well documented, with smartphones and tablets now dominating aspects of the market. It's a clear sign that retailers need to make sure their websites render on mobile devices not only well, but in a compelling way.

Tablets like the iPad are very good at showing websites. However, they do not run flash, which is used on many websites, which can kill the user experience. There is a need to make sure that the technologies being used on your retail websites are compatible with mobile devices.

With smartphones the problem is even deeper. Not only is there the same issue with technologies, there is the issue of extreme small screen sizes, which call for a complete rethink of the site design. With so many people now using smartphones for their browsing and purchasing, this can be a killer.

For more on this important issue, check out this article.