Consumer Intelligence: The Future of E-commerce

Hugh Crean – E-tailing needs you!

Since the ‘90s, BI has been revolutionizing the way many companies do business. By analyzing customer, transaction, and operational data, these systems have enabled companies to spot trends that would have been otherwise invisible and make break-through discovers about their businesses and their customers. For many users of business intelligence, these discoveries have lead to both increased revenues and profits. Now, I believe we are on the verge of another kind of intelligence revolution. This time the revolution is in what I call CI, or Consumer Intelligence.

What is CI? Well, it’s very much like business intelligence. CI collects data for its users so they can spot trends, make valuable discovers, and take informed action. Unlike BI, however, CI is used by consumers to monitor data related to their personal lives. Also, unlike BI, in order to be successful, solution providers must do more than provide data and trend-spotting – they must recommend simple, informed actions. Buy. Sell. Hold. Change your behavior in this area or that one. …All actions that will make/save you money or enhance your life somehow.

Examples of such solutions are FareCast (www.farecast.com) in the travel space, Mint (www.mint.com) in personal finance, and greenbox (www.getgreenbox.com) in consumer energy consumption. All of these solutions allow consumers to see data that, in some sense, has always been there, but has been unavailable to date. FareCast gives insight into future ticket prices by analyzing past airfare prices. Mint helps users see the whole picture of their finances by allowing them to see all their accounts (credit cards, checkings and savings accounts, and investment accounts) in one view. Greenbox allows users to see real-time information on their personal energy consumption. And, they all suggest action: buy the ticket now, get a lower interest rate, turnoff your computer while you’re gone. The recommendations from each of these services are so powerful that they can literally save you thousands of dollars a year. And, in many cases, such as with greenbox, they can help you be a better person. (…So, I’m a believer – sue me.)

With these sorts of savings and improvements available, CI-based services have sprouted up in many areas, from fitness (Nike+) to real estate (Zillow). However, there is one obvious area where I think companies are missing the mark: retailing. I am currently using a great service in this space called Shop It To Me (www.shopittome.com). Shop It To Me is a personal shopping service that emails sale items to its users daily, bi-weekly, or weekly, depending on the users’ preferences. The service asks users for their favorite brands and sizes and only emails out sale items that match the consumers' specifications. Every time you click through, you know the item is a brand you like and it’s available in your size. You also know just how much you are saving. It is a great service. However, it is only the first step. Why only clothes? And, why not move beyond brand, size, and today’s offers?

Here’s the service I want. If and when it exists, please let me know. ...I’m a 30 year old guy who is going to make a lot of purchases, both significant and insignificant, over the next five years. I am going to buy 2 large flat screen televisions, a new desktop computer, a new kitchen table, a bar (not a local watering hole – one of these), a wine fridge, a new couch, and probably a bunch of other appliances (not to mention a house, a couple cars, and a bunch of baby shit). I am also going to buy a bunch of clothes, books, and other knickknacks. In all cases, just as Shop It To Me and existing shopping engines have hit on, there are a number of possible vendors – Pottery Barn OR Crate and Barrel, Vizio OR Sharp, J.Crew OR Banana Republic, etc. I don’t really care which one I get, as long as it’s one of my approved brands and it’s a deal. Additionally, I don’t simply want the best price today, as is provided by current shopping engines. And, I certainly don’t want to make all these purchases right now (insolvency = bad).

Here is what I want. I want this service to live in time. I want to be able to put in all these products and all the necessary specifications (color, size, etc.), and I want the service to track their prices. Not only that, I want it to reach out to me and say, “Tekno, you asked me to ping you when I found an approved 40” LCD 40% off the average price for your approved brand list. Here it is. Click here for more information or click here to buy.” Or, I want it to tell me, “Tekno, you told me to find a 40” LCD at 40% off. After reviewing the data, I have found achieving that discount to be unlikely. Here is one at 37% off. Click here for more information or click here to buy.” The future of e-tailing is this: a system that lives in time with all of your requirements, knows and understands historical prices and makes predictions about future prices, and pings you when something is a fit for your desired discount or is at its lowest likely price.

Hugh, your talents are wasted. Leave Microsoft and start this company!