Web 2.0 changing Internet, commerce: Shop.org show panelists

By Giselle Abramovich

January 24, 2008

Carrie Johnson, Forrester Research

ORLANDO, FL – Web 2.0 technologies such as mobile content serving, user-generated content, streaming video, widgets and rich Internet applications are changing the face of the Internet and commerce.

These types of innovations can increase both sales and customer engagement, according to panelists at Shop.org’s Strategy and Innovation Conference held at the Royal Pacific Resort in Universal Studios, Orlando, FL.

“Web 2.0 are a set of technologies and applications that enable effective interaction among people, content and data in support of collectively fostering new business, technology offers and social structures,” said Carrie Johnson, vice president and director of research at Forrester Research, Cambridge, MA.

Highly interactive applications, whether they are on the Web or on a handset, enhance the user experience, she said. However, it is important to solve a problem and not just create something fun. Always consider what the user wants and needs.

“Web 2.0 allows for product discovery, collective wisdom and product visualization,” Ms. Johnson said.

Web 2.0 has helped with the search aspect of shopping. Amazon.com, for example, lets users find products in new ways, including tags.

“Tags turn shopping into a conversation,” Ms. Johnson said.

Another panelist, Doug Mack, vice president of hosted and consumer solutions for Adobe, San Jose, CA, spoke up for mobile’s potential.

“Everything they are saying about the mobile channel and its effectiveness as a branding tool is true,” he said.

Mr. Mack presented five themes for the future of mobile. Content was one of them.

“Content is king because a great experience is all about content,” he said. “Make it personal and adapt to your consumers. Empower your customers to define their own path and remember that the Internet is accessible for most people, from anywhere."

David Daniels, vice president and director of research for JupiterResearch, New York, raised the social aspect of Web 2.0.

“Eighty-five percent of shoppers use Amazon.com or Google.com to find reviews on products they are interested in,” Mr. Daniels said.

Additionally, 45 percent of shoppers use aggregator sites and 25 percent use social community sites.

User-generated content is really changing the face of shopping and how people make buying-decisions, Mr. Daniels said.

“Consumers give feedback after good experiences more than they do after bad ones,” he said.