F-Commerce not Accelerating as Analysts Expected

Remember when nearly everyone was talking about the huge potential of integrating online stores in Facebook brand pages?  Well, I think it’s fair to say the growth hasn’t happened as expected.  Several brands have tried and eventually closed up their Facebook store fronts like Gamestop, Gap and JC Penney.

So why hasn’t F-Commerce taken off like originally thought?  I think it’s a combination of a few things.  The first is, do people really want to shop when they’re on Facebook?  As a Facebook user, I certainly do not.  I’m on Facebook to see what’s going on in my friends and family’s lives.  Not to buy a video game from Game Stop’s Facebook store.  If I want to buy the new Fifa on Xbox 360, I’d probably visit their website.  That brings me to my second point.  Categorically speaking, the experience on brand’s websites are generally very good.  If there is nothing wrong with a brand’s website, why wouldn’t the person just buy their goods from the website.  I see Facebook as a place for users to hangout and interact with their friends and family.  It’s not a place where they decide to buy that new cashmere sweater regardless of how awesome they think it will look on them.

I think at the end of the day, Facebook is obviously very valuable for retailers and brands.  It’s an extremely efficient channel to connect with customers and fans.  While using the network to sell directly may not work, we do know communicating about sales, new products, etc certainly does work.  Oh and don’t feel too bad for Facebook that the whole F-Commerce thing didn’t take off.  I think they’ll be quite alright with all the other areas of growth they have.  The company reportedly earned more than $3.7 billion in revenue for this past fiscal year.  Absolutely absurd…

Streaming is Finally Here. About time.

We all were hearing about streaming media for years but the technology just wasn’t good enough.  Remember buffering?  Our kids will know no such word.  Technology is finally good enough to stream media and now it’s all the rage online.  If you haven’t seen the crazy growth in streaming media over the past few years then you’ve been living under a rock.  Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, HBO, Amazon and countless others have seen their streaming growth go through the roof.  The experience is so good that many consumers are beginning to drop their cable providers to shed some bloated monthly bills for the economically priced streaming options like HuluPlus and Netflix.  I have to admit if it wasn’t for live sports on television, I think I would have converted already.

In terms of the growth of steaming media, check out these 2 crazy facts:

• Hulu just announced they already have over 1.5 million subscribers for their pay product, HuluPlus and generated $420 million in revenue last year.
• Netflix movie and TV show streaming accounts for 22 percent of all North American Internet traffic.
• ESPN streamed over 4,000 sporting events in 2011.

The growth is crazy and it’s just a matter of time before the cable providers adapt and begin changing their pricing/strategy.  All the better for us consumers…

The Shift and are Brands Ready?

It’s certainly not a secret that the tablet and mobile shift is beginning to occur.  iPhones and Android devices are flying off the shelves and the tablet market is beginning to blow up.  Apple just recently reported an incredible 15.43 million iPads were sold in the 4th quarter of 2011 and Amazon hasn’t reported Kindle Fire sales figures yet, but analysts are very bullish on the product’s sales.  Today, NPD came out with a report that showed more bullish estimates.  NPD is estimatingtablet shipments would grow  from 72.7 million units in 2011 to 383.3 million units by 2017.  That 383 million number is actually a larger number than the sales for PC’s from this past quarter which saw a 6% decline from the previous year.Clearly the tablet market is growing at a rapid pace and will only continue to grow for the foreseeable future.  The question now becomes, are brand’s ready for it?  There are always brands that are slow to identify emerging trends and adapt to them.  Certain brands were slow to build their website, then there were brands who took their time to ramp up their social media presence.  Tablets are here to stay, so creating a unique experience for them becomes a big priority.

The experience and interactivity of these devices are completely different from those on PC’s.  Brand’s need to acknowledge this and create a completely unique experience that adapts best to these tablets.It’s no longer just about creating an experience for PC’s.  Brands now have to wonder about creating a presence for PCs, tablets and smart phones.  I can’t think of any brand doing a better job currently than ESPN.  The screen shots do all the explaining…