reading "Are Online Reputations Portable?" from business week not only got me thinking about how powerful reputations are on eBay, but it made me go off track and think about the reputations of small independent e-commerce retailers...once in a while everybody goes on to google and types in an item they're looking to buy and one of the first links is one of these independent e-tailers...for example, if i want to buy a laptop battery for my computer i typed "buy laptop battery" into google and one of the first links that came up was www.batteryvalues.com here's my issue: you go to the site and it looks like it was made in 1999 for starters...then if I weren't so bias I might go ahead and look at the site but i'm just not sure if i trust it.
when i buy things on eBay the good news is I do have the ratings...but that eBay scale of reputation really doesn't go beyond eBay itself. unfortunately on batteryvalues.com doesn't have an area on their page where there are thousands of customer reviews and if they did, i'm not so sure they'd include the negatives! IM SORRY! I just need the reassurance of "A++++++ SELLER, FAST SHIPPING + GREAT PRODUCT!!!!". Sad, but I don't think i'm alone when I like that reassurance.
going back to the battervalues.com example, for multiple reasons I don't think that i'm highly likely to go on a website i've never heard of before and enter my credit card information. i'm not a big fan of website where i think i'm going to pay and pray that it comes within the next month. this said, i feel as if all of the small independent e-tailers that had been prevalent on the web landscape for years and soon going to diminish. just like on land where Wal-Marts and Super-Duper-Everything-Stores begin to dot the landscape and in turn Joe Bob's Mom & Pop Grocery Shop begin to turn into a Wal-Mart, or maybe one aisle within....as huge e-stores such as Amazon, OverStock, even Wal-Mart begin to gain support (as they already have) don't you think stores like batteryvalues.com and other sites like buy rite electronics have an end in sight? though one can argue that its easier to compete online without a storefront because of less overhead costs that it must still be heard to earn a good living competing against fortune 500 companies traded on the NYSE or NASDAQ?
Do you think that the trend of mom and pop shops being closed by Wal-Marts opening on main street will continue on e-street?
Let me know what you think?
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2 comments:
As an owner of a small business, it is built on word of mouth and reputations of past clients,not on the look of a website. However,having said that, I do agree with you that people are becoming less comfortable with putting their cc on the net to purchase something when they are not sure of the etailer. Good point if someone doesn't know the store or website.
You made a good point when you said that the site looked like it was made in 1999, i think it is very important how the web page is design, and the first impression that it gives to the customer. if you like the design you are more likely to stay on the website and may be purchase something, i think it helps for a smaller e-tailers to improve their business
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