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Customer Interface

Types of User Interface

• An interface can be a desktop computer, palm pilot, cell phone, or other device

• The interface need not be Internet-connected. Example: FirstDirect

• The key is that standard face-to-face interaction is replaced by technology-enabled interface.

The 7Cs of the Customer Interface

Context

Site’s layout and design, look and feel

Form/Aesthetic vs. Function

Commerce

Site’s capabilities to enable commercial transactions

Connection

Degree site is linked to other sites

Communication

The ways sites enable site-to-user communication or two-way

communication

Customization

Site’s ability to self-tailor to different users or to allow users

to personalize the site

Community

The ways sites enable user-to-user communication

ContentDigital subject matter

Text, pictures, sound and video including product, service, and

info offerings

Functional Dominant — Brint.com

Aesthetic Example — KMGI.com (interactive web production)

Integrated Approach Example — Patagonia.com

The 7Cs of the Customer Interface

Context

Site’s layout and design, look and feel

Form/Aesthetic vs. Function

Commerce

Site’s capabilities to enable commercial transactions

Connection

Degree site is linked to other sites

Communication

The ways sites enable site-to-user communication or two-way

communication

Customization

Site’s ability to self-tailor to different users or to allow users

to personalize the site

Community

The ways sites enable user-to-user communication

ContentDigital subject matter

Text, pictures, sound and video including product, service, and

info offerings

Content

Five content archetypes:• 1. Superstore – one stop with wide range of categories and lots of choices

• 2. Category killer- one category and lots of choices

• 3. Specialty – one or more categories but few exclusive choices

• The first three are known as OFFERING-DOMINANT

• 4. Information dominant – archives of information and search tools

• 5. Market dominant – create a market where buyers and sellers meet

A Framework to Understand Offering-Dominating Archetypes

Superstore

CategoryKiller

SpecialtyStore

NUMBER OF PRODUCT

CATEGORIES

Multiple

Single

Narrow Broad

DEPTH OF PRODUCT LINE

Superstore Example — Amazon.com

Category Killer Example

Specialty Store Example — Frontgate.com

Information Dominant — Business 2.0 (www.business2.com)

Market Dominant Example — PlasticsNet.com

The 7Cs of the Customer Interface

Context

Site’s layout and design, look and feel

Form/Aesthetic vs. Function

Commerce

Site’s capabilities to enable commercial transactions

Connection

Degree site is linked to other sites

Communication

The ways sites enable site-to-user communication or two-way

communication

Customization

Site’s ability to self-tailor to different users or to allow users

to personalize the site

Community

The ways sites enable user-to-user communication

ContentDigital subject matter

Text, pictures, sound and video including product, service, and

info offerings

CommunitiesRayport and Jaworski

• Community – feeling of membership, sense of involvement, shared interests

• Community archetypes:• 1. Bazaar –many sub-areas; no meaningful interaction• 2. Theme park – Interests grouped, multiple communities, interaction

but no strong bonds• 3. Club – lots of interaction; focused on one area• 4. Shrine – focus, minimal interaction, high enthusiasm• 5. Theatre – Interaction is part of content• 6. Café – Primary focus is on conversation btwn members

Value of Online CommunitiesHagel and Armstrong

• Communities of transaction– buy, sell, deliver info e.g. Virtual Vineyards

• Communities of Interest– Special topics, high degree of interpersonal

communication, e.g. GardenWeb, Motley Fool

Communities of fantasy

– Red Dragon Inn, ESPNet

• Communities of relationship– life experiences, cancer forum, divorce

Communities — Elements, Types, and Benefits

Elements of Community

Types ofCommunities

Member Outcomes: Participation and Benefits

• Cohesion

• Effectiveness

• Help

• Relationships

• Language

• Self-regulation

Just Friends

Friends inNeed

Enthusiasts

Players

Traders

Need Fulfillment

• Inclusion

• Mutual Influence

• Shared Emotional Experiences

Degree ofParticipation

Bazaar Example — Games.Yahoo.com

Theme Park Example — VoxCap.com

Club Example — Gillette Women’s Cancer

Shrine Example — The Unofficial Dawson’s Creek Web Site

Theater Example — iFilm.com

Cafe Example — Bolt.com

The 7Cs of the Customer Interface

Context

Site’s layout and design, look and feel

Form/Aesthetic vs. Function

Commerce

Site’s capabilities to enable commercial transactions

Connection

Degree site is linked to other sites

Communication

The ways sites enable site-to-user communication or two-way

communication

Customization

Site’s ability to self-tailor to different users or to allow users

to personalize the site

Community

The ways sites enable user-to-user communication

ContentDigital subject matter

Text, pictures, sound and video including product, service, and

info offerings

Customization archetypes

• Personalization by user – Enables the user to modify site content and context

• Tailoring-by-site – Enables the site to reconfigure itself based on past behavior by the user – Collaborative filtering or rule-based

Personalization by User Example — mylook.com

Tailoring by Site Example

The 7Cs of the Customer Interface

Context

Site’s layout and design, look and feel

Form/Aesthetic vs. Function

Commerce

Site’s capabilities to enable commercial transactions

Connection

Degree site is linked to other sites

Communication

The ways sites enable site-to-user communication or two-way

communication

Customization

Site’s ability to self-tailor to different users or to allow users

to personalize the site

Community

The ways sites enable user-to-user communication

ContentDigital subject matter

Text, pictures, sound and video including product, service, and

info offerings

Communication archetypes

• 1-to-many, nonresponding – newsletter or event announcement.

• 1-to-many, responding – site messages are invitations to submit responses, answer a survey

• 1-1, nonresponding – personalized message• 1-1, responding – personalized message w/ request for

reply• 1-many, live – chat, seminar, conference• 1-1, live -- chat

One-to-Many, Non-Responding Example — theStandard.com

One-to-Many, Responding User Example — BizRate.com

One-to-Many, Live Interaction Example — Accrue 2000 Web Seminar

One-to-One, Non-Responding User Example

One-to-One, Responding User

One-to-One, Live Interaction— LivePerson.com

The 7Cs of the Customer Interface

Context

Site’s layout and design, look and feel

Form/Aesthetic vs. Function

Commerce

Site’s capabilities to enable commercial transactions

Connection

Degree site is linked to other sites

Communication

The ways sites enable site-to-user communication or two-way

communication

Customization

Site’s ability to self-tailor to different users or to allow users

to personalize the site

Community

The ways sites enable user-to-user communication

ContentDigital subject matter

Text, pictures, sound and video including product, service, and

info offerings

Connection Archetypes

• Destination – site-generated content; very few links to other sites• Hub – combination of site-generated content and selective links to

experts or related sites.• Portal – almost entirely links to large numbers of sites. Little or no

original site-generated content• Affiliate programs – can click on links or banners to affiliated sites;

often remaining in the page’s “environment”• Outsourced content – The content is generated by 3rd party, but

integrated within web site• Meta software – utility and plug-in software to assist users. E.g., free

shopping agent.

Destination Example

Hub Example — DrKoop.com

Portal Example — Yahoo.com

Affiliate Program Example — Onhealth.com and Proflowers.com

Outsourced Content Example — Real.com

Consumer Attraction to the Internet

• 24-7 availability• Access from anywhere• No travel• Time savings• Privacy

• Easy comparison shopping

• Lower prices• More informed

decisions• Greater selection• No annoying

salespeople

Source: Mastercard Survey

Two Dimensions of Search

• Should one expect lower margins on the Internet?• Two dimensions to search• Differentiation and Consumer Segments • Bakos (Management Science, 1997) points out two factors

that affect the degree to which the quality search effect outweighs price search effect:

• 1. The degree of differentiation in the product category, and the associated degree of importance consumers place on finding the product with the best fit to their preferences.

• 2. The number of sellers.

Wine Online: Lynch and Ariely

• A total of 100 wines were available for selection in two stores, with each store selling 60 wines, 20 of which common to both stores, and 40 unique to each store.

• Conditions varying on:• Search costs for price information• Search costs for quality information • Search costs for comparing across two competing electronic wine stores

• High Price Usability. Price information was displayed next to each wine in the list of each store, with a tool allowing for sorting by price.

• High Quality Usability – Wines were described in terms of complexity, acidity, body, and sweetness or dryness. Differentiating comments by the store. Sorting by type.

• High Store Comparability. The screen was split in half, with each store on one half of the screen.

Wine Online: Five Results

• For differentiated products like wine, lowering the costs of search for quality information reduced price sensitivity, thereby increasing profit margins.

• However, price sensitivity for wines common to both stores increased when cross-store comparison was made easy.

• Cross-store comparison had no effect on price sensitivity for wines unique to a particular store.

• Making information environments more transparent by lowering all the search costs resulted in consumers liking the shopping experience more and two month later more easily recalling their preferred wines.

• When store comparison was made easy, market share of wines unique to the stores increased.

• The conclusion is simple: There are strong incentives for retailers to provide customers with electronic shopping and its search benefits, but at the same time they must differentiate their products to maintain high profit margins.

How do buyers behave differently online?

Greater perceived riskThe buyer must rely on seller’s description of the product

The buyer must rely on seller for timely deliveryThe buyer must rely on the seller to truthfully represent himselfPrivacy and security issues

Attention deficit– Customers are overwhelmed with information– Need for suggestion, customization

• Search is often automated– bots are frequently used to find the product that best meets some

criteria – sometimes the product with the lowest price• Lack of social cues and a sparseness of communication

Some research findings on online consumer behavior

• Online customers more loyal

• Less price sensitive than commonly believed – depth of information and web interactivity lower price sensitivity

• Brand names are more valuable when products have few search attributes (e.g. clothing)

So what can be done?• Trust

– Access to other customers’ experiences, live interaction, or both.– Independent intermediaries (paypal) and infomediaries– Offer more information and allow easy search and comparison, as

only the web can offer– Share your inventory levels– Intelligent agents and live representatives for assistance – work risk to your advantage – high perceived risk means increased

loyalty– Personalization / individualization– Communication– Communities

So what can be done? Attention Deficit

The answer is personalization and customization.

– Customize suggestions, menus– Customize billing– Show them their history

Stages of Customer Experience

• Functionality– Usability, ease of navigation, speed, reliability,

security, platform independence• Intimacy

– Customization, communication, consistency, trustworthiness

• Evangelism– Community, marketing effort

– Two dimensions: Time (x) and reactions (y)– general, personal, other-regarding

Seven Steps of Creating Positive Customer Experience

• 1. Detailed description of target customer• 2. What scenarios would bring customers to your

web site?• 3. Integrate offline experience• 4. The Three Steps web site• 5. Distribution of customers on hierarchy• 6. Reward brand loyalty – freedom to evolve and

to confront, preferred access, economic incentives and reward programs

• 7. Monitor and Adjust