Came across offertrax today (here). It's a bit of 2.0 tech which allows you to seek the things you want to buy and then lay back and wait for the right price to fall into your lap.
Essentially you save the site into your favourite links and click on it when you're on the page offering an item you want. You then get RSS feeds updating you every time there is a change in that offer.
The theory is that when the price or offer reaches a level you're ready to accept, you hear about it swiftly and can then go do the deal.
This is a powerful notion. You are putting part of the control of the process back into the hands of the buyer.
"Gone are the days when customers simply land on a merchant page and expect to only see a Buy Now button," says Ben Carcio, co-founder and COO of Offertrax. "As customers grow more sophisticated, so must the sites that serve them." (more here)
I've tried this and found it a bit flaky so far, but the idea is neat and it is only in beta at the moment. There are others offering similar ideas.
There's a review of some of the alternatives (such as stylefeeder and mpire and their social networking functions here on Wired News
The article includes: "As Offertrax's Carcio points out, e-mail has been so badly abused by spammers that RSS, blogs, opt-in offers and other "user-controlled technologies" will soon become the most effective way for sellers to reach out to interested buyers.
Putting the user in control might be the fastest route to online sales success, says JupiterResearch's Evans.
"These new sites are a great opportunity for consumers to get into the game and get information themselves rather than relying on the retailer for that information," she says.
The further ahead you look - the faster you go | davidpcushman AT gmail.com | These are my views and my views only.
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The rate of change is so rapid it's difficult for one person to keep up to speed. Let's pool our thoughts, share our reactions and, who knows, even reach some shared conclusions worth arriving at?
You touched on nicely the important points in the article. Customers are beginning to expect more service and won't tolerate spam.
ReplyDeleteYou're also right that Offertrax is a bit flaky. Its a "real" beta, and not just in name, as we're working with our testers to refine the tracking tool and to deploy more social aspects of tracking. Stay in touch, you'll see drastic improvements over the coming months.
Keep tracking!
Ben Carcio
Offertrax, Inc.