Posts Tagged ‘Amazon’

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Can Ecommerce and white elephant gift shopping combine?

“…the future will be owned by those companies that harness technology to the make the consumer shopping experience easy, efficient and fun.”

These are the words of Todd Hale, senior vice president, Consumer & Shopper Insights, as he reported on the Nielsen Retail 2015 forecast.

The future looks very bright for any consumer retailing that is tied to technology,  and even better when the shopping experience becomes personally engaging.

The big winners in the next 5-years will be mass Super-centers and the E-Commerce providers.  Other retail sales channels will lose share because of the growing success of these two sources of consumer product distribution.

We like the word FUN discussed by Mr. Hale, especially when it is associated with E-Commerce.

The ease of shopping and the purchasing efficiency of online retailing creates many leadership opportunities.  Now, all that is missing is some FUN at your local Amazon.com or Overstock.com site…

How about a game?

Engaging game activities will enhance the future fortunes of gift retailers.  Games equal fun… they always have!

But why target gift retailing as the source of FUN-based selling?  Because gift giving is associated with  personal engagement between people, and so are games.  Gifts are outward expressions of an inner commitment to make someone else happy and games are happiness generators.

The  E-Commerce gift store that finds a way to efficiently market white elephant gifts, with a tie to something fun and supportive, will be a big winner in the race for the consumer pocketbook in the future.

Then if you add in a white elephant exchange party game and a way to connect even the most distant friends, we will have a shopping experience like none other.

 

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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Marketing Trend reports continue to suggest that online retailers have a huge opportunity to use social networks as a sales channel.

Most of these internet retailers are attempting to use traditional advertising methods and static pages to reach out to the connected-groups on the web. This approach has yielded a mixed result, due to the unique nature of social network usage.

In one trend report the author suggested that…“A critical challenge remains the ability to effectively harness the marketing intelligence inherent in the way people communicate and interact with one another through the digital medium and make it actionable”.

Since most of the social web is built as a mimic of social interactions from the real world, we might find an actionable e-commerce solution the same way.

We know that people purchase things for each other desiring to ether give support or to build up a relationship. The act of delivering the item carries the non-verbal message that someone cares enough to sacrifice money, thought and time for someone else.

When this delivery is completed in person, the added verbal communication, facial expressions and physical contact reinforces the message. It is hard to beat going to Target, wrapping a gift and then showing up on the doorstep of someone you love.

The disconnected nature of e-commerce takes this physical interaction from the process, loosing some of the impact of the message.

Social networks and e-Retailers are trying to find solutions to this disconnect, and they will eventually find a good mimic.

The answer will come as we apply more of the product distribution activities we use in our real social life to the process.

Any great ideas?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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The bell rings and you swing open the door to reveal the smiling UPS driver, holding an Amazon box… Your birthday present has arrived or maybe it is a white elephant gift surprise…

This same story plays out millions of times a year with little fanfare or personal impact, because UPS isn’t tasked to deliver personality, fun or Love. They only distribute the box, get a signature and then move on down the road.

The UPS distribution system is a marvel of good logistics and great efficiency, but they deliver boxes… not love.

Many of the items that the UPS driver handles are expressions of love, sent by family and friends to support important life events. UPS simply becomes the intermediary in a process that would have been more personal, if the parties had lived closer to each other.

When it comes time to give a birthday present to a distant friend, we shop with love and thought. We wrap the gift with bright paper, a bow and some ribbon. Then, because we must ship, the gift is placed in a plain box and given to UPS.

What would happen if we could insert some of our personality and love into the gift distribution process?

What if we could host an online party and then have the UPS driver be the deliver guy for the gifts from the event/ What if we could have a engaging white elephant gift party on the internet and then have the gifts delivered?

Maybe we could require that the UPS driver wear a party hat or sing a short birthday tune when the door opens?

When the day or event is special, we should find ways to deliver our love and our personality to support UPS in the package delivery. We could do better for those we love, and make the delivery a part of a memorable process.

What could we do to help UPS deliver the love?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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I got a tip from Itamar Kestenbaum, a social media expert, that Twitter was being used to send real gifts between users.

Mashable ran the story of five Twitter applications that provide ways to share real gifts through network connections.

As I looked over the report, I was struck with the very limited gift selections. We would hope that selections might increase over time, or maybe the author was just looking at a sampling of the gift offers and they really do have more items on the shelves.

To illustrate what I am saying, here are some of the quotes from the article, where a product was mentioned:

“Love Hearts and strawberry lip gloss the current most popular items…”
“…if you’re looking to send a Twitter contact a Whoopee cushion, or a badge that reads “boob inspector” then this is your new go-to place”.
“…with books and movies catering to any get-well soon scenario, flowers and food great for thank yous, and comedy tees”.
“…mostly cookies and a few geek-themed phone cases and jewelry”.
“…as well as some sexy underwear”.

As I examined these sites, I found them to be mostly a way around getting the delivery address directly from the user.

Whatever the case, we appreciate the trend toward actual gift commerce coming from social networks. We know that Facebook, Twitter and other networks can facilitate the sharing of real items and will eventually be the go-to locations for gift giving.

We are happy to be involved in the leading edge of this emerging market.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Share Billions are spent every year to show Mom our appreciation.
This year Facebook games are adding to the support that Mother’s receive.

A report in the blog Inside Social Games from TrialPlay states that; “...in the days leading up to Mother’s Day, promotional offers dubbed “gifts for mom” generated around $1 million per day”. This revenue was mostly from the sales of flower deliveries for Mom’s around the world.

This action was a boost of 5 times the action usually received by game developers, as they capitalized on our love of Mom…

Two things are interesting about this information: First, it points to the value that we place on supporting each other with real gifts. And second, it demonstrates that we will use online tools to share in the giving process with each other.

And where do most real gifts get distributed within families? At parties and other social gatherings. In fact, there was almost $15 billion spent on real gifts this last Mother’s day and nearly 20% was spent online!

The value of the new internet tools like Facebook, Amazon and PayPal is that we can use the web to share gifts with even the most distant loved ones. We can celebrate important events right from our computer.

These are the reasons that we have such a passion for online parties…

We see a day when everyone can use this platform for sharing real gifts on Mother’s Day and every other important holiday. We are happy to be on the leading edge of this effort.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

We are on the hunt for a technical partner or co-founder for the PartyWeDo network.  We have reached out to a few individuals that we have met during the AlbinoPhant development process. They have been very helpful in pointing us to several resources. 

We have also sought the advice of various internet based experts as we refine what we are offering. These experts suggest a well crafted Elevator Pitch as the basic introduction to our plans. We appreciate the suggestions from the guys at Venture Hacks, who have written much on this subject.

We also stumbled upon a post from Dave McClure on pitching the problem and not the solution.

I don’t use the language that Mr. McClure often chooses to make his points, but his post on problems makes a great deal of sense. 

Dave’s suggestion is that the “problem” that needs the clearest definition,  as opposed to a discussion concerning building a solution.

So… Dave McClure… Here is a problem:

You don’t live close to all the people that you love and want to share gifts with. This distance causes you to miss personal gift delivery opportunities. You feel guilty that you can’t be there to offer your support at birthday parties, weddings, baby births, graduations and holiday gatherings.   Sure, you know how to shop and ship, but UPS doesn’t deliver your love and personality with the package.  It is sad that you can’t be in several places at the same time, because you will miss some of the great parties that are planned by those you love.

You, me, and millions of other people face this same problem, because we live to far away to really show our love and support in person.

While I am thinking about problems Dave, here is another one…

Facebook, and other social platforms are very dependent on advertising as a business model.  This model really has nothing other than eye-ball volume to sell. These networks must rely on limited advertising budgets to fund their business; and there are many advertising choices.

NOW FOR SOLUTIONS:

1. Give distant friends and family the opportunity to join in the party and share their personality and presents from wherever they reside.
2. Partner with a vast number of eCommerce companies to sell the gifts for the party and earn commissions to fund a socially-center business.

Mr. McClure I would appreciate your thoughts on these problems.  (Oh yes, if you could recommend a technical co-founder I would appreciate the lead)

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

“The Internet has given us simple means to create businesses out of nothing. But to sustain them, we need solid models. What’s yours”?

This is the ending statement and final question in a post from Chris Brogan’s blog. I appreciate the idea of a simple explanation of the model.

So Chris, here is my attempt to define our business model:

DISTRIBUTION

Modeled after UPS…

Yes, this party game and the coming network of other party games are a Distribution system… Here is how:

Over time some of the people we care about become dispersed to other parts of the country. This dispersion creates a problem for moving items between these individuals in an efficient manner.

UPS recognized this problem and in the early 1900′s began delivering messages and packages to the dispersed businesses in Seattle, Washington. Over time they expanded to cover the world in distributing the important items of families, friends and businesses.

UPS has a business model built on serving the distribution needs of those who find delivering goods in person is not a viable option. They use conveyor belts, airplanes and brown trucks as their tools in building a very successful enterprise. Their service facilitates the movement of things from one spot to another in an efficient way; so UPS is a Model of Distribution.

Our model of distribution is built on the need to have gifts distributed to dispersed family and friends. The gifts that are needed to demonstrate support and love during very important life events. Gifts that would be delivered in person, if it was possible. UPS can deliver the box holding the gift, but they do not distribute the love…

Our tools include UPS, but also add in the services of Facebook, Amazon and PayPal. Our distribution model involves the extra services of connection and interaction which are lost when a gift is not delivered in person. Our distribution service facilitates the fun that can accompany the act of gift giving to someone who is close to our heart, but far from our person.

So Chris… There you have it….
We are in GIFT DISTRIBUTION

What do you think?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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Google just hired an advocate for game developers. This follows Apple’s opening of a Game Center.

Both companies have witnessed the success of social gaming on Facebook and want to promote game development for their products as well.

The new Google hire, Mark DeLoura, a games industry veteran, suggests that “Clearly there are a number of initiatives going on at Google that can relate to games in some way” (read Android and OpenSocial).

It has been suggested that Apple’s Game Center is an attempt to compete with Facebook’s dominance over the hugely popular and incredibly lucrative area of social gaming.

What we are witnessing is the leading edge of the trend to use gaming to sell or support consumer goods.

Apple and Google know that an engaging or addictive game application can ring a cash register, if applied correctly. Active gamers use hardware to facilitate the fun, so creating games for iPads and Androids will build demand for these products.

But the real winners of this online gaming trend could be e-Retailers…. So Amazon and Ebay should be paying attention to this trend!

Consider the value to Amazon of games that resulted in the sale of a variety of consumer goods….

Do you think Ebay would want to hire a Game Developer Advocate if it meant more sales for their merchants?

Google and Apple are investing in the minds and hearts of game developers and game enthusiasts. Maybe Amazon and Ebay should take a page from this game plan.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

I appreciate the work of AllFacebook. Nick and his team have been a great help to our understanding of the Facebook network and graciously mentioned AlbinoPhant during our soft launch at Christmas time.

This past week the site has been listing some Birthday Party ideas for Facebook users. While there have been some great suggestions, we would like to suggest a real party….

With REAL Gifts! All for the Birthday Girl…

Now, in the author’s defense, we realize that we have not adequately communicated that AlbinoPhant is more than just a Christmas gift party.

So to Clear up the Confusion:
The AlbinoPhant birthday gift exchange is a great online party for family and friends who want to support the Birthday Girl with REAL gifts and have a fun in the process.

Yes, all of the gifts are purchased from a huge selection provided by Amazon, and shipped by UPS…

Here is how it is done….

First: Host a party and invite your friends and family to participate near the Birthday Girl’s big day.

Second: In all of the party invitations that come from Facebook and from your email invitations, let everyone know that this is a Birthday Party for the Birthday Girl

Third: Send along the Birthday Girl’s address and tell them to put her address into the shipping details while they are purchasing the gifts.

Then: When the game is played and the party is over, the AlbinoPhant gift redemption department will order the gifts delivered to the Birthday Girl’s address.

Simple as that!

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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Launching a new business concept is a challenge.

Most people run from this type of struggle, but I am a addicted to the adventure. This pioneering journey is where we discover what we are made of and where ideas move from thought into reality.

In 1995 most auctions were local events where people drove to an auction site to make their bids with several other bidders. Today, thanks to the internet and the forward thinking of eBay, we do much of our bidding from our computers. Auctions are now common virtual experiences, where real items are bid upon and sold to the highest bidder.

In 2010, most of us attend parties down the street or across town. In the future we will have virtual parties, where even the most distant friend can be a part of the fun.

This is the journey that we have chosen for AlbinoPhant and the PartyWeDo online party network.

You can now begin to pass out your gifts using a party on your computer… All because online auctions have shown the way.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists