If you don't know what me-commerce is don't worry. It's fairly new and if you have any interest in starting a business in the clothing, fashion, or manufacturing sector you'll be glad that you found out. Me-commerce is e-commerce customized for every individual. Imagine having an online dressing room where you can try everything out and get the right style and fit for you. That's me-commerce, in a nutshell. So why is me-commerce the future of the fashion e-commerce market, which by the way is a multi-billion dollar market?
1. People are indecisive and irrational.
People are indecisive what it comes to shopping. Style is one of the hardest things to predict because it causes consumers to make irrational decisions based on who knows what. Just seeing an ad of your favorite celebrity wearing a piece of clothing can be enough to turn you into an impulsive buyer sometimes. This is why me-commerce is great! When you have eight or nine dresses and you can't decide which three to go with you try them all out and then decide which one fits and looks the best. Of course you can't physically try them on online at that moment by me-commerce comes as close as you can to doing this. Which leads us to reason number 2...
2. Marketplace apps and websites.
There is no telling what people will be able to do with new technology and a distinct focus on the me-commerce market. There are already apps that allow you to customize women's lingerie to your exact size and make sure it fits before ordering it. There are also sites that allow you to upload photos of yourself and digitally dress yourself online. The digital image of you has your proportional features and allows you to try on several different outfits. Not only can you choose your exact size but you can customize the colors down to the littlest details, this is something that you cannot even do in stores!
3. Why not customize?
If one online retailer is selling hoodies and another is selling customizable hoodies for only a few dollars cheaper, who do you think customers will be more likely to go to? Teenagers love to customize their own clothing, and tweens, that's a given. I mean honestly, how cool did you feel when you first wore a jersey with your name on the back? Or when you got your name etched on your fitted hat? People love to see their name, their brand, their idea! They love to see it on themselves and they especially love to see it on others. That is why sites that allow you to customize your own t-shirts and hoodies have become so popular in the past few years.
4. New market + no market leader = cheap prices.
Businesses know that to succeed they need to be the first, the best, or the cheapest. Being the first is only good if you can create brand loyalty before everyone has a chance to get to market. Being the best and being the cheapest always has its benefits but proving great quality at the lowest price is unbeatable! Competition is what forces businesses to do this. Once retailers see someone else succeed at this they will run at it and it will be the next gold rush. We all know that booms can hurt or help markets. Look at diamonds. The more diamonds mined and sold the lower the value of diamonds are. De Beers know this best that nobody actually wants diamond prices low even if you think you do. But when it comes to clothing, specifically customizable clothing, this is the best thing for the market. It will eventually compete directly with regular clothing and then it will completely take-over the market!
5. Me-commerce manufacturers will lower costs.
Of course prices can't drop unless costs of producing the clothing drops. This depends on manufacturers and also the amount of volume the company is doing. To get more volume companies need cheaper prices than their competitor. We see this with Wal Mart, Amazon, and the USPS and that is why they are all arguably monopolies. The lower the prices, the more volume and the more volume the lower the costs. This is what will allow consumers to afford any clothing to be customized to their exact liking.
6. It leads to more U.S.A made products.
The U.S has the largest market of users online. It has the largest market of e-commerce customers and it seems to be the first to the me-commerce market. That means that unless you are a huge established company that is already doing volume, it is easier and almost cheaper to find me-commerce manufacturers in the U.S. This also will lead to a boost in sales for retailers whose products are usually produced overseas. This will also lead to a boost in the economy for America and if that happens that could create a whirlwind trend of people purchasing solely for the fact that it is help the economy. May be wishful thinking but hey, who knows, right?
7. Great companies already do this without calling it me-commerce.
The largest retailers already provide a form of me-commerce, they just aren't calling it that. Look at Zappos return policy. They let you return anything up to a year. The reason is that they want you to try on their shoes so that you can see how you actually like them, not just how you think you will like them. This is HUGE for repeat business. Because even though you made the decision to buy them and then realized you didn't like them, you will have a negative feeling towards whoever sold you them if you are stuck with them. And better yet, they provide free shipping and free returns. This is me-commerce at its finest.
8. It engages consumers in new ways.
Studies have been done that prove that the longer you can get a consumer to engage with your product, the more likely they are to purchase it. Me-commerce is perfect for this. 360 degree photos seem to be the new thing in the e-commerce retail industry which is already improving the way consumers are able to look at products online. Now if you are able to customize this spinning item and see the changes happens right in front of your face it creates value! It gets the consumer engaged with the product and something that just started off as fun (because you wanted to see if the color would actually change and keep spinning) now gets your curious and fascinated with the product. The more customizable it its, the longer you play with it and the more you desire this product.
9. Me-commerce sounds cool and it's catchy!
Who doesn't like the sound of me-commerce? It centers around us! Everyone wants to be recognized in some sort of way. We all care about us! It's why iPhone and iPad are such great names. But what's even better is that it rhymes and sounds just like e-commerce, it's just better. You don't have to get used to a completely fanciful name or anything and new names tend to spread because want to let others know that they already know about it.
Do you agree with me? Leave comments to let me know why you do or don't!
1. People are indecisive and irrational.
People are indecisive what it comes to shopping. Style is one of the hardest things to predict because it causes consumers to make irrational decisions based on who knows what. Just seeing an ad of your favorite celebrity wearing a piece of clothing can be enough to turn you into an impulsive buyer sometimes. This is why me-commerce is great! When you have eight or nine dresses and you can't decide which three to go with you try them all out and then decide which one fits and looks the best. Of course you can't physically try them on online at that moment by me-commerce comes as close as you can to doing this. Which leads us to reason number 2...
2. Marketplace apps and websites.
There is no telling what people will be able to do with new technology and a distinct focus on the me-commerce market. There are already apps that allow you to customize women's lingerie to your exact size and make sure it fits before ordering it. There are also sites that allow you to upload photos of yourself and digitally dress yourself online. The digital image of you has your proportional features and allows you to try on several different outfits. Not only can you choose your exact size but you can customize the colors down to the littlest details, this is something that you cannot even do in stores!
3. Why not customize?
If one online retailer is selling hoodies and another is selling customizable hoodies for only a few dollars cheaper, who do you think customers will be more likely to go to? Teenagers love to customize their own clothing, and tweens, that's a given. I mean honestly, how cool did you feel when you first wore a jersey with your name on the back? Or when you got your name etched on your fitted hat? People love to see their name, their brand, their idea! They love to see it on themselves and they especially love to see it on others. That is why sites that allow you to customize your own t-shirts and hoodies have become so popular in the past few years.
4. New market + no market leader = cheap prices.
Businesses know that to succeed they need to be the first, the best, or the cheapest. Being the first is only good if you can create brand loyalty before everyone has a chance to get to market. Being the best and being the cheapest always has its benefits but proving great quality at the lowest price is unbeatable! Competition is what forces businesses to do this. Once retailers see someone else succeed at this they will run at it and it will be the next gold rush. We all know that booms can hurt or help markets. Look at diamonds. The more diamonds mined and sold the lower the value of diamonds are. De Beers know this best that nobody actually wants diamond prices low even if you think you do. But when it comes to clothing, specifically customizable clothing, this is the best thing for the market. It will eventually compete directly with regular clothing and then it will completely take-over the market!
5. Me-commerce manufacturers will lower costs.
Of course prices can't drop unless costs of producing the clothing drops. This depends on manufacturers and also the amount of volume the company is doing. To get more volume companies need cheaper prices than their competitor. We see this with Wal Mart, Amazon, and the USPS and that is why they are all arguably monopolies. The lower the prices, the more volume and the more volume the lower the costs. This is what will allow consumers to afford any clothing to be customized to their exact liking.
6. It leads to more U.S.A made products.
The U.S has the largest market of users online. It has the largest market of e-commerce customers and it seems to be the first to the me-commerce market. That means that unless you are a huge established company that is already doing volume, it is easier and almost cheaper to find me-commerce manufacturers in the U.S. This also will lead to a boost in sales for retailers whose products are usually produced overseas. This will also lead to a boost in the economy for America and if that happens that could create a whirlwind trend of people purchasing solely for the fact that it is help the economy. May be wishful thinking but hey, who knows, right?
7. Great companies already do this without calling it me-commerce.
The largest retailers already provide a form of me-commerce, they just aren't calling it that. Look at Zappos return policy. They let you return anything up to a year. The reason is that they want you to try on their shoes so that you can see how you actually like them, not just how you think you will like them. This is HUGE for repeat business. Because even though you made the decision to buy them and then realized you didn't like them, you will have a negative feeling towards whoever sold you them if you are stuck with them. And better yet, they provide free shipping and free returns. This is me-commerce at its finest.
8. It engages consumers in new ways.
Studies have been done that prove that the longer you can get a consumer to engage with your product, the more likely they are to purchase it. Me-commerce is perfect for this. 360 degree photos seem to be the new thing in the e-commerce retail industry which is already improving the way consumers are able to look at products online. Now if you are able to customize this spinning item and see the changes happens right in front of your face it creates value! It gets the consumer engaged with the product and something that just started off as fun (because you wanted to see if the color would actually change and keep spinning) now gets your curious and fascinated with the product. The more customizable it its, the longer you play with it and the more you desire this product.
9. Me-commerce sounds cool and it's catchy!
Who doesn't like the sound of me-commerce? It centers around us! Everyone wants to be recognized in some sort of way. We all care about us! It's why iPhone and iPad are such great names. But what's even better is that it rhymes and sounds just like e-commerce, it's just better. You don't have to get used to a completely fanciful name or anything and new names tend to spread because want to let others know that they already know about it.
Do you agree with me? Leave comments to let me know why you do or don't!
