The B2X Consumer Experience
A lot has been said and written about Web 2.0 and uniquely defining the consumer experience on the web. Most of us have read and experienced Web 2.0 features at several consumer websites. The last two CIOs I met had unique challenges relating to Web 2.0 which I thought should be shared with this audience.
The first CIO belongs to a B2B distribution company. Corporate customers log on to a secure website and place orders for several items/services while this company delivers those items and servies through a fantastic distribution network across North America. The strength of this company traditionally has been its distribution network. Recently they launched a program to overhaul their B2B ordering site to make it more feature-rich. But as they tried to understand the features they needed, they encountered an identity crisis. They were selling to corporate customers, buyers stationed all over the globe who had the authority to purchase products for their corporation. Should this B2B company start using B2C features on their website? Should they put in cool Web 2.0 features, build social communities, blogs, product comment features,etc…the kind you see on popular sites like Amazon and others. Should they offer a free itunes download with each purchase? What are the implications? If they do offer these features, can they open up their business to retail consumers? Who should they really try to be?
The second CIO belongs to a successful retail company that also runs a good B2B distribution business with the same products. This company is also struggling to see how Web 2.0 features can improve both their retail business and their B2B business. They are figuring out how to use cool Web 2.0 features to help their business customers personalize and configure their product purchases on the web…and then use the same platform in the store for consumers that walk into their store. Cool functionalities being considered include drag-n-drop product configurators, virtual rooms, touch-screen kiosks for the stores with I-phone like finger-touch functionality. The interesting trend here is that the Web and specifically Web 2.0 is breaking old business models and challenging companies to rethink their identities, what they want to be and who they want to sell to. B2C and B2B consumer experiences are converging into a fairly consistent expectation of consumer experience. Internal organization structures are hence being challenged and broken down more rapidly than ever. The converged multi-channel B2X organization is soon arriving if it has not already arrived. The CIO is in the middle of this revolutionary storm and has to think of all the questions and most of the answers.
Comments
I have really enjoyed reading about Web 2.0 ....
You're right Web 2.0 is hard to define but it is a necessity if you want to move your business forward quickly....
There seems to be more controversy on Web 2.0 than anything else on the web...
I know for our business using Web 2.0 has been a big factor....
Creating relationships and driving traffic through different social networking sites have made a huge difference in our business...
We have also started a new blog with some great controversy about Web 2.0...
http://www.web2iswhat.com
Thanks again for all your info.... keep up the good work....
Thanks
Jeff and Lori
Posted by: Jeff | August 9, 2007 11:32 PM
It is interesting to note that thought buyers in a B2B setting may be performing corporate purchases, they are after all, humans (read 'customers') and so would appreciate tools that help in their buying process.
The 'cool' and 'not so cool' features that accompany a Web 2.0 implementation should be used only if it adds value to the customers.
The beauty is that instead of ceremonising the implementation ,too much thinking, what to and what not to implement, implement a good set of features that a core buyer group thinks will be helpful and later analyze the usage of the features to pick out underused ones and get rid of them.
Let the customer decide!
Posted by: Surya Saurabh | August 24, 2007 12:20 PM