Disqus - Latest Comments for kleint

Re: The decline of the mobile web

Tom Klein — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 20:51:11 -0000

I wonder if the comparison of time spent is the correct metric here. Given the amount of time people spend in social network apps (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram), these figures might not be extrapolate-able to the web at large. I'd be interested to see comparisons for ecommerce sites, as I imagine that mobile web would outshine apps - even for retailers with robust mobile apps.

Re: Pinterest Now More Popular Than Email for Sharing Stuff Online

Tom Klein — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 12:42:16 -0000

I would never use Share This to share something by email - what's the point? My antennae are twitching about the validity of the study.

Re: Social Commerce Is Commerce With A Social Layer

Tom Klein — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 17:13:43 -0000

What's missing in the social commerce conversation is the notion of social merchandising.

I see social merchandising as the integration of a social layer into an ecommerce platform to display products in such as way (on site, in social media, in-store, email) as to capture the attention of shoppers and entice them to buy. It's also a way to create a more social connection between shoppers and brands, as well as between shoppers and sales people.

This is a very different notion from consumer social platforms with visual bookmarks, scrapbooks, or conversations. In Mary Meeker parlance, we'll go with some version of re-imagining the mannequin, the shop window, and one to one interactions with sales people.

The challenge for most retailers is that this social layer doesn't come "out of the box" with ecommerce platforms. Ecommerce platforms can't evolve very quickly because they're essentially enterprise systems. IBM releases a major upgrade to Websphere Commerce every three years . . .

Major social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) are ad networks. While they're great and engaging for consumers, it's not a smart idea for a brand or a retailer to push all customer interactions into a third party - especially one that will turn around and charge the brand in the future for access to its own customers.

Maybe the social merchandising idea is just the push side of the social layer you mention. Depending on the category, merchandising can be much more important. Think about apparel, furniture, home interiors - versus office products. Sometimes self-service is great, sometimes it's not.

Conversion has to be there - I agree. But, we can't forget the importance of traffic and loyalty. Brands and retailers need the merchandising tools to create new content, use that content to drive conversion on-site, also publish that content off-site to build traffic from the social platforms, and also use the same to support loyalty. Whew - that's a lot.

The social interactions, between shoppers and friends, shoppers and sales people, happen at every step along the way.

Re: http://thomasaklein.com/post/21323908351

Tom Klein — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:41:31 -0000

Don't let them know that I was just trying to see how I could get Super Grover into a post about Customer Engagement . . .

Re: There’s Some Cheese in My Tech: Jonathan Kaplan’s “The Melt” Opens Its Doors

Tom Klein — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:46:09 -0000

Were you not allowed to show a photo of an actual grilled cheese?

Re: Rately: List Products You Like & Get Shopping Advice From Friends

Tom Klein — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:02:26 -0000

Just wanted to let you know that we've just made a big update. Rately lets you rate up individual items - and the site is more mobile and iPad friendly. Give it a whirl at http://rately.com.

Re: Rately: List Products You Like & Get Shopping Advice From Friends

Tom Klein — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:31:37 -0000

Thank you http://makeuseof.com for the review of http://rately.com. We're just out of the nest, so please come say hello. We're very focused on helping you get feedback from friends on potential purchases.

Re: How to not suck at Facebook Questions

Tom Klein — Sun, 01 May 2011 10:13:09 -0000

I tend to think that the real issue here is that Facebook questions run contrary to the spirit of a social network.

If I wanted to read through a lot of pointless, non-scientific polls answered by complete strangers - there are plenty of options out there.

Re: Weekend Giveaway: An Authentic Darth Vader Costume

Tom Klein — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:58:32 -0000

Better everything - cooler ships (rebel stuff was clearly made from space junk), bigger weapons (with an unfortunate knack for having a fatal flaw of some sort), and groovier british accents.

Re: Weekend Giveaway: An Authentic Darth Vader Costume

Tom Klein — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:58:00 -0000

Better everything - cooler ships (rebel stuff was clearly made from space junk), bigger weapons (with an unfortunate knack for having a fatal flaw of some sort), and groovier british accents.

Re: Weekend Giveaway: An Authentic Darth Vader Costume

Tom Klein — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:58:00 -0000

Better everything - cooler ships (rebel stuff was clearly made from space junk), bigger weapons (with an unfortunate knack for having a fatal flaw of some sort), and groovier british accents.

Re: The Spawn of craigslist Like most VCs that focus... - The Gong Show

Tom Klein — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 19:23:13 -0000

You could just as easily label it spawn of the classified ads.

Re: What Really Matters for State Budgets - Derek Thompson - Business - The Atlantic

Tom Klein — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:15:32 -0000

Would be great to throw a bone to notions of correlation versus causality. I've read that states with large deficits have a high percentage of people who like to eat carrots.

Re: MySpace+Unveils+New%2C+Artsy%26nbsp%3BLogo

Tom Klein — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 12:08:14 -0000

The attention received from being clever wouldn't seem to outweigh the negative effect of having many people (people who don't know My Space) just not get it.

Re: Gmail Creator: Facebook Has The Potential To Be Worth More Than Google

Tom Klein — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:24:55 -0000

Not to let reality intrude on the fantasies of Facebook insiders, Google has generated mountains of revenue (currently 30X that of FB) and profits to support a very real, market-based valuation based upon a widely held stock. Facebook has a lot of work to do just to look as good as Apple's "loss leader" iTunes (should generate approx 2 billion in 2010). Eyeballs don't always turn into dollars.

Re: A Massive War Is Approaching As The Tablet Market Cannot Sustain Six Separate Platforms

Tom Klein — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 12:33:43 -0000

Your last point is the winner here. The OS is almost irrelevant - what matters is the availability of applications that can give a tablet utility for users.

Re: Former HP CEO Mark Hurd Might Work for Oracle

Tom Klein — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:21:01 -0000

Calling Hurd disgraced seems a little hyperbolic - and I can't really put my finger on why.

It's not difficult to see why a company like Oracle would want to talk with him. It was just in March of this year that Baron's referred to him as one of the 30 most respected CEO's (http://online.barrons.com/a... - primarily because of the dramatic turnaround experienced by HP over the past several years.

Re: Google TV Dominates Apple TV in Reader Vote

Tom Klein — Sat, 29 May 2010 09:47:08 -0000

Just wanted to make sure. So this is a survey comparing an actual product vs. the description of one? My marketing researcher spidey sense is tingling . . .

Re: Kim Myles Host/Designer of ‘Myles of Style’

Tom Klein — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:06:17 -0000

Myles of style is a great show. Kim makes it all look so easy and fun (even though we all know that it really means work). I remember seeing her on the Design Star and it was very clear from the beginning that she not only has a great eye for style, she's also willing to put in the work required to create designs that are uniquely compelling.

Re: Is There Such A Thing As A Blue Chip Stock Anymore?

Tom Klein — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:14:14 -0000

GM would seem to be a stretch to be included as a "blue chip" company. The real question here is why on earth is it still a component of the DJIA.

Its low market cap should have gotten it kicked out of the club years ago. Must be that mountain of unprofitable sales, which now appears to be more like a gigantic jobs program. I sure hope we've learned the lessons of Gosplan and keep Washington out of trying to pick next year's model.

Re: Urban insite

Tom Klein — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:45:02 -0000

You're right - normally it would be weird to go under construction instead of just unveiling the new site.
Good reason in this case, though.
The previous site fell victim to a malicious hacker. So, the Vent is doing well to just be up and operational.

Re: Ballmer: I'm completely out of ideas

Tom Klein — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:39:31 -0000

When will you stop assuming that the Delltard or Borg view of market share is what matters. There's share of volume, share of revenue, or share of profits. Apple's share of pc industry profits? A hell of a lot higher than 10 percent.

Also, a gentle reminder. Apple is in the HARDWARE business. The Borg is in the SOFTWARE business.