Today’s Evolving Online Consumers

When I think of the new client, the first thing that comes to mind is a consumer. Consumers are the heart and soul of any economy. They are the engine that drives markets and business. They eat food such as commodity foods, like milk and manufactured foods like potato chips and TV dinners. They drive cars. I make phone calls. They live in houses, condos, and apartments. They buy CDs, stereos, cameras, computers, and television sets. They subscribe to cable TV and go to sporting events, theater, symphonies, and rock concerts. They buy toys and games for their kids and hobbies for themselves. And they use an assortment of services, from lawyers to pet groomers to stockbrokers.

The Online Consumer

Consumers who are getting lots of emotionally charged responses make an economy tick. When they stop getting emotionally charged responses, they stop investing, stop buying homes, stop by cars, and, in the end, stop the economy. The new global information economy art is being driven by companies that provide lots of emotionally charged responses along with their more tangible products and services.

The Dot.com bubble was a result of early online ventures providing consumers will lots of emotionally charged responses, particularly being in control with lots of choice. The Dot.com bust was the consequence of any glut of startups that were unable to deliver value to the new clients.

The Internet is becoming ubiquitous, its user base is predominantly non-technical and uninterested in the latest bells whistles. Users are no longer early adopters are less concerned with whether they have the latest version of Java or Flash than they are with getting a good price and after-market service. In other words, the Web has gone mainstream.

Consumers around the world use the Web to shop, learn about products and providers, search for jobs, manage their finances, obtain health information, and scan their hometown newspapers. Most of these activities are not yet captured by official output and productivity measures, but they have a positive impact by allowing consumers to become more informed with a minimum of stress and effort.

The new consumers are not loyal to brands, products, or supply chains. Like customers in pre-industrial times, they are loyal to those whom they have established a relationship. Nowadays, that relationship will be mediated by telephone, e-mail, a web site, or chat group, but consumers still need to feel they are dealing with real people who care and to have the authority to provide customized and extra effort servers. Customers are loyal to other customers and to employees with whom they’ve established relationships.

In the end, the companies that gain the trust (and keep the trust) of online shoppers will win the ecommerce battle.

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