While the very organisation-specific nature of Social Media usage means that it’s unlikely you’ll find an exact fit for your own guidelines – reading how others have approached the same challenge should certainly help you set off in the right direction.

Recently some companies that do business online have been caught giving away or selling information about their customers. Several of these companies provide guarantees on their websites, claiming that customer information will remain private. Some companies that purchase customer information offer the option for individuals to have their information removed from the database, also known as opting out.

However, many customers are unaware if and when their information is being shared, and are unable to stop the transfer of their information between companies if such activity occurs.Another major security concern that consumers have with e-commerce merchants is whether or not they will receive exactly what they purchase. Online merchants have attempted to address this concern by investing in and building strong consumer brands, as for example Amazon and eBay, and by leveraging merchant/feedback rating systems and e-commerce bonding solutions.

All of these solutions attempt to assure consumers that their transactions will be free of problems because the merchants can be trusted to provide reliable products and services. Additionally, the major online payment mechanisms (credit cards, GoogleCheckout, etc.) have also provided final buyer protection systems to address problems if they actually do occur.

From my point of view I usually do not like to buy on-line. I really prefer to walk around some shops, try things, get in touch with what I am interested in and get involved in it. The only things that I have bought are some books from Amazon and AbeBooks, which I needed for my studies. Am I outmode???

Have a look to these video to learn more about digital consumer behavior. You jsut have to click on the link you find in the list below:

Digital consumers are full speed ahead

The slowdown will fuel online growth

Follow consumers online to get more bang for your marketing buck

Here’s a chart with the male/female ratio for each site:

Is it strange? I don’t think. The women really are better communicators, in fact, the data indicates that they work more at it.

What does it means? If you are in business or designing messages for social media, you might want to start focusing your messages better. Given the different online shopping styles of men and women is important.

 It’s important to consider that men have  only one mission on the web while women expand their mission. In fact, if men are out to research the best digital camera or the best shirt, they’re not doing much else.

But women are interested in a digital camera, they’re looking at clothes for their kids, they’re thinking about what they’re doing that weekend and if they need to pick something up for their husbands.

This means that e-retailers need to design site navigation to facilitate this. A site should also allow women shoppers to move easily between product and category. The product page needs to allow depth of product information for men, while allowing women to scan that product information and easily move on.

To reach both men and women, it’s “really critical” for an online store.

Focus the messages, design and offers are the keys of success.

What I wanted was an easily accessible website, fast delivery and low delivery costs. And Apple was able to make me and happy customer (again!).

The process of purchase was very easy, I accessed Apple website, I choose the item I wanted, I paid with my credit card, and that’s it, the order was placed! Apple sent me a confirmation email where it waas stated that the delivery time was approximately 7 working days.

To my surprise, 3 days later I had my Snow Leopard copy in the mailbox! How was it possible? I don’t know, but I was astonished by Apple’s quick delivery!

If we want to apply the principles of digital marketing to this situation, Apple was able to manage my expectations successfully. I believe Apple knows well what ecustomers want and what they need, and they are able to deliver a service which met my expectations and did not leave me disappointed. In this way Apple is one the path of making me a loyal customer, a customer even more in love with that brand!

• If I need to book an accommodation where I can spend my holidays, I used many search portals dealing with houses. I gave more weight to the houses with a positive feedback and I’m always careful to avoid fake.
• If I need to book a room in a hotel I just use Google and I look for different accommodation or I just book directly to the website of the hotel (if I already know where I want to stay).
• I use Google Maps for the review of the location and holiday resort where I want to go.
• I use Google Image to look for the best places that I can visit (beaches, cities etc…)
• I always consult websites like “Tripadvisor” or “Turisti per Caso” to read the suggestion of the other tourists that have already been in that place. I take note of the restaurants, hotels, transportation means, museums etc, they suggest going!
• I use Google Maps or Via Michelin to know the prices and distances between my city and the location where I want to go.
• I weekly have a look to the websites of low cost airlines companies to find special offer or discount.

These are only some of the websites that I use when I’m planning my holidays. I can say for sure that Internet has significantly changed the way we travel and the behavior of each consumer.

The strategy used by websites like BuyVip and Privalia is simple: they send a warning e-mail in advance to the potential buyer (consumer that has already subscribed himself to the website). They advise that the next   day at a specific hour they will begin selling a set of proposals brands (very famous brands) at a discount, ranging from 30 to 70%, since these inventories may be part of a previous season. The short duration of offers, from a minimum of two to a maximum of five days, along with the discount benefit, play a decisive role stimulating emotional purchase and impulse: you can buy the object of desire just with a click of the mouse, and within ten days the merchandise you bought will come to your home. The product, in fact, is taken directly from the supplier (this also allows considerable savings for the client), conveyed in the stores of the website, packaged and then shipped by courier.

There are many players in this emerging market in Italy. First real national pioneers as Born4Shop and SaldiPrivati or Piustyle.com (launched by an entrepreneur with a long experience in managing inventories of branded collections and active also in Spain and Belgium). Second other players already established in other counties that are trying to replicate their strategy in Italy. This is the case of a giant like Vente-privee.com (510 million euros in turnover 2008), but also names like BuyVip or Privalia. There are of course many other players but I think they are currently too many for a market so small, specialized and relatively undeveloped like the Italian one.

What do you think?

In this article the journalist underlines that the fears for chance of encountering fraud in the virtual world are common among consumers. He shows different protection systems that every consumer can use whenever he/she wants to buy online.

“The use of credit cards on the Web is growing strongly” – explains Enrico Albertelli, director of marketing and ecommerce of CartaSi -. “That’s why we offer different levels of security. Each company has created strategies ad hoc. CartaSi for example, has introduced a classical system of data protection with password. It is 3DSecure – specifies Albertelli – and it is based on a program that gives the possibility of combining a code to the credit card number. The password is requested to authorize any online payment and replaces the signature that we have to put on the receipt, when we shop traditionally”.

In addition to this system, which involved more than one million customers, there are other tools such as SMS alerts and the X-pay. With the first, you have the opportunity to be alerted via text messages on your phone whenever you shop with the credit card. The second is instead a virtual POS which gives an added value in terms of security and offers the 3DSecure program and the control of CV2 (three-digit code listed on the credit card). It ensures security filters based on an analysis of the risk level of each single transaction.

Nowadays consumers can feel more protected in their online purchases thanks to the growing technology that is changing the way we use credit card.

Every consumer relies on a specific type of social websites or company website for product and brand information. As a result, companies try to engage directly with them using this social network creating a great opportunity to not only reach more consumers, but also increase their likelihood of making a purchase. But companies should be very careful in using digital marketing tools because they have to consider the impact of online word-of-mouth that can affect the consumers purchase decision.

In Italy ecommerce websites struggling to get out the stage of comparison of products. In fact it is proposed an online consultation of the product for the next purchase in store, what in slang is defined infocommerce.
Today the sales strategies of company aims to consolidate brands. The ommunication of products put in the websites strengthens the brand and becomes a vehicle to test consumers behaviour and satisfaction of customers.

Companies not engaging in social media as part of their online marketing strategy are missing an opportunity to reach consumers.

I think the real problem is that companies are not always aware of the power of online word-of mouth. Consumers today have the possibility to convey and share their opinion with other people about products or services they have bought online. They can voice their satisfaction or dissatisfaction regarding a specific brand or company, undermining the confidence of these companies to exert full control over their consumers. If the majority of consumers convey negative experiences with a specific company that sell its products online it will lose its credibility on the web and its digital marketing effort will no longer be profitable.

In fact, if I have to buy a product on Internet I will first check on blogs, forum and other social network how are the experience of the other consumers that have bought the same product or service online. If I found that a lot of people are dissatisfied with the website that sell that product I won’t buy it on Internet.

As you said, if companies want to do e-marketing they have to assure reliability and credibility of the service they offer. They have to be able to manage complaints or dissatisfaction and try to improve their service as much as they can. What happen today is that everyone tries to do digital marketing without knowing its specific rules and strategies. I think that a company can do e-marketing only if it is consolidated in the off-line market.