Posts Tagged ‘innovation’
Oh So Textual! *Text Message Shopping Has Arrived*
Monday, April 7th, 2008
I remember the days when cell phones were exciting because they were cordless AND you could use them past your front porch without it crackling and buzzing you deaf. Then came the ringtones. And the cameras. And the text messages, email, internet, music and video. I can’t afford the latest and greatest (mine simply allows for phone calls and a few texts) but when they add a "Makes You Breakfast in Bed" feature I’ll seriously consider upgrading.
But as is, I, along with countless others, still possess the capability of participating in text shopping, the latest service offered by Amazon.com called TextBuyIt. Here’s how it works (courtesy detnews.com ):
"It lets people text the name of a product, its description or its UPC or ISBN to 262966 (that’s "Amazon" on the keypad) from anywhere their cell phones work — including from inside physical stores.
If Amazon stocks matching items, the service returns two results at a time. Shoppers can immediately buy one of the first two the selections by texting back the number "1" or "2," or they can ask for more by texting the letter "M."
New TextBuyIt customers will be prompted to enter the e-mail address associated with their existing Amazon account plus a shipping zip code. The service then calls them and walks through the checkout process using an automated voice system. Shoppers get confirmation by text message and e-mail.
From there, the customers can check on order status on Amazon’s Website."
First I just have to say that I think this is pretty awesome–as a consumer that is. I keep thinking that there is no way things can get easier and lo and behold, someone finds a way. I’m not so sure I would use this personally (remember, I’m too cheap to upgrade to a cooler cell phone so I’m not exactly a ’shopping on demand’ kind of person) but I do know that this service will likely be widely accepted by shoppers and replicated and perfected in different forms by Amazon’s top competitors.
So what kind of effect do you think this will have on brick and mortar stores? Or small businesses for that matter that do not possess the capabilities of offering such a service in order to compete with Amazon?
Tags: advertising, consumers, E-Commerce and E-Business, innovation, internet, Marketing, online shopping, Rebecca Button, shopping, technology, text messaging
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Times are lean, all the more reason to go green!
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
If you haven’t already been bombarded by all the wonderful and practical reasons you should take steps to making your business more earth friendly, you might have fallen down a dark well and have no way of getting out. If this is the case and you are reading this, please email someone for help. And then explain to me how you are getting wireless down there.
If you fall into the other category (and hopefully that is ALL of you reading this) then you are familiar with this buzz phrase "going green." I’m not here to repeat what we already know about the basics. So I’ll just skip ahead to the juicy details.
The "going green" craze has swept our nation and in the midst of it all has been a wealth of opportunity for environmentally oriented businesses not to mention creating a market for new ones to crop up as well. Unfortunately, in the area of solar technology, there hasn’t been much competition. Til now.
A recent article (which explains the ins and outs of solar energy in detail) from CNNMoney.com states that "several startups, including HelioVolt in Austin, Miasol in Santa Clara, Calif., and Nanosolar in Palo Alto, are working on a new technology called flexible thin film that’s on the brink of making solar more competitive." And you know what that means? It means that these companies are going to work harder to produce the best solar product and we all can benefit from this (including Mother Nature).
Solar power has been two to three times more expensive than traditional energy methods but with these companies working on a cheaper way to convert solar energy into usable energy, lower energy costs are dangling right in front of us. So check out this new solar energy technology as I’m sure you’d rather spend company funds on actually growing your business, not just powering it.
For more tips check out an article by our small business expert, Steve Strauss: Why Going Green Is Good For Business
Tags: going green, innovation, Rebecca Button, recession, solar energy, solar panels, technology
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