John Bresee » Business

iPad and eCommerce- Finally a cash register for the individual

John Bresee — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:03:18 +0000

“(the iPad is) not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it” — Pogue In one sentence this anonymous scribe captured the essence of the iPad. It’s a consumer oriented cash generator with almost every form of payment waiting for you to join. We may well get out of this recession because Steve Jobs willed it to be.

One analyst just raised his 2010 sales number for the iPad to 8-10 million. Which is a ridiculous amount when you consider the category doesn’t exist yet. Which is silly for me to mention it’s not like the analysts spotted the housing crash, the dot com crash or any of the other eighty three recorded fiscal bubbles…but still, they are analysts and presumably they have more wisdom in their domain than I, so I listen.

But what I am guessing and feeling is that the iPad is going to revolutionize in a different way. The notion of personal browsing. That ecommerce+ will be at your fingertips and it will be incredibly powerful. This is not a browser who’s history you have to wipe to keep corporate from reading it, but instead your own that you carry with you…history of all messages, commerce browsing, blogging, writing, photography. The iPad will be the window into your own lives and others.

Ecommerce only represents 6% of total commerce in the US…but it’s the fast growing segment and will be for years to come. It is expected to grow 2% a year for the foreseeable future and that is without mobile factored in. The iPad will do an interesting thing in that it will help migrate those who have been resistant to ecommerce by way of a more friendly environment where commerce will, perhaps feel less threatening. So it will increasingly steal from the physical side of commerce. For the cognoscenti ecommerce will grow faster due to a deeper wallet share. Suddenly commerce that never would have happened over the web will be possible, be it the hot dog vendor or bike parts for a kick ass bike/community/commerce app. Those who comfortably spend on the web now will see their spending accelerate as the software grows to meet capabilities in the new hardware.

And in that way the iPad will work to combine the aspects of commerce that are already appealing with those of geo-tagging, nearest physical product, best price within five miles, and much more to move a large percentage of wallet share to the web. So ecommerce will grow, again at a much faster rate than it has. And it will grow in new, unexpected places that get the distinct advantages of this format. For instance in-game digital product sales might well grow at an astonishing rate.

And Android will follow along with their impossible to beat “Better Than Free” model and slowly and they will own the lower pricepoints. Yet this is a market that is already proven, the $275 netbook is very desirable. Add in a touch screen and phenomenal OS and it will be a dream browser. The Tablet is here to stay. And so is the app. A web page is nonspecific brochureware for the dying 2000s and an app is the perfect hyper-focused one purpose tool for which this generation was born to use.

High price-points will be Apple‘s as there is something luxurious in software and hardware designed together. But Android’s breadth of connectivity to massive data sets creates opportunities that I don’t have the brain power to imagine. Apple and Google do something that no other companies do, they create moments when the current and future exist at once. It’s this strange feeling, as if for a moment, we get a moment of living in the future just by way of a new product release. What a cool capability.

Tablets will not have to war for its share of computing. It will instead be the third form of computing and within 36 months the primary mode for ecommerce.We won’t stop using our laptops and desktops and we can’t give up our mobile phones.” The world never converges, it only diverges into more ways that we can stay in touch, buy, say hello, record our thoughts, support our existence.

Great Customer Service as Art

John Bresee — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:59:51 +0000

At Backcountry.com the Gearheads have great latitude in resolving problems and doing whatever they can to make the customer happy. But this example is like no other I’ve ever seen. Follow the link to see the customers full post on her blog FoolsandSages.com. Here’s a small excerpt.

“After I placed my order, I sent their customer service folks a mail telling them how much we loved their site and asking for the shipping to be adjusted to reflect our original wish to combine shipping. I fully expected for them do graciously do so, but was absolutely not expecting the response I received:

‘Hi Andrea,

Thanks for contacting us at Steepandcheap.com. We love you, too. We would marry you if you weren’t already married. And we weren’t a company, but rather a young shy boy lost in the throes of love, yea, a misty-eyed dreamer looking towards the future, still unscathed and unpolluted by the hardships of mid-adulthood. We would ask your housemaid to deliver white flowers to you, with an anonymous note that read “Heaven nor hell could provide me the joy and pain your approval or lack thereof might impose upon me.” Then, that very night at midnight we’d stand outside your window playing a love sonnet on the violin–a heartfelt ribbon of swaying notes and flittering string plucks. You could get out of bed and come to the balcony to listen. Instead of saying anything, you might drop a single white handkerchief slightly soaked with your tears.

But none of that could ever happen, so instead I just gave you a full refund on your shipping costs. I think it was like 8 bucks. Thanks for the love.’”

Wow…how unusual. Here’s her full post. http://www.foolsandsages.com/2009/12/03/making-customer-service-fun-what-a-concept/

The Adventure Life Folds

John Bresee — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:24:08 +0000

: Image of Steve Casimiro

“National Geographic Adventure will cease operations, it was announced today, a victim of the down economy and systemic changes in publishing. The final issue is December/January.”

Bummer. That about covers that. No need for me to do any clever editorializing. I’m sad to see it go; it’s been a solid bastion of true adventure journalism amongst the thick weeds of men’s magazine‘s that offer editorial breadth of a weightlifters glutes: Endless teasers which claim they can make any desired body part either grow or shrink, depending on the need.

Steve Casimiro was the west coast editor…a title that seemed odd for an adventure magazine that covered the globe. It didn’t seem the title stopped him from taking a bevy of hot models to Ibiza to test “30,40,50 SPF – We Tell You the Truth.” Steve has lined up the finest jobs in the magazine world as the most well known editor of Powder magazine and the co-creator and first editor (with Rob Story) of Bike magazine. Casimiro is a man who knows the soul of adventure. I’m hoping his next beat will be another great step in the life of one of the finest adventure writers and editors in the world. He’s also handy with the Cannon Snappy.

Another Shake Up At Condé Nast: Details Publisher Out (mediabistro.com)
Playboy outsources magazine’s business operations (dailyfinance.com)
Freelance Unbound: ‘How the social web has changed the journalist’s working day’ (blogs.journalism.co.uk)

Thankful For…

John Bresee — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:01:27 +0000

: Image of Bob Merrill

It’s been a year full of challenge. A year rife with pain and growth. And as I set out hopeful to join my friends Raspberry and Blueberry for dinner I can’t help but reflect for what I am thankful:

A son who didn’t let me sleep a wink last night but began the day by saying, “I love you all the world Dadou!”
A friend who ignored tumult to invite me to his Thanksgiving dinner
A business partner who supported me through a challenging year and who I hope I’ve done the same
A company filled with the finest co-workers and people I’ve ever seen assembled in one place. I’m humbled every time I enter work by the sheer quality of the people. Backcountry.com is what professional means.
A country that rewards innovation and allows two entrepreneurs to start Backcountry.com with $2,000 and grow it to what it has become.
Co-workers who get so inspired that they go on to create their own empires in Avantlink, CamoFire.com and GearDigger.com to name just a few.
Semi-retired co-founders like Christian Gennerman and Bob Merrill without whom we never could have built this company.
Mentors like Jill Layfield, Scott Klossner, Kelly Phillipps, Dustin Robertson and many more who teach who I am, my many shortcomings and all and yet who I desire to be.
A boss who is a mentor and yet not afraid to call it as he sees it.
An ex-wife who retakes the phrase and turns it into a wonderful thing.
Endless support and energy from Sara H and Lyndsey who show me what energy I would like to face the world with.
And deep boundless friends who have been with me since I began accruing them at six and I never seem to stop.
And a friend who doesn’t rush.

The humbling of 2009 never seems to stop but that is as it must be for now. Thanks to all who help me get back up and figure out yet another way to tackle a fresh set of problems. I have more to be thankful for since I turned toward lightness and away from the inexorable darkness that is available to us all. I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving.

2010 is already filled with more opportunity than I ever dreamed possible. I hope you all tear off a chunk.

Great Customer Service as Art

Old School Internet Marketing

John Bresee — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:41:50 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Here’s a video about how we used to market at Backcountry.com circa 2007. It’s kind of a B- performance. Sorry. There is some good data in here though:

This is a link that may or may not work to a speech to a BYU entrepreneurship class circa 2007.

The Best Usability Ever

John Bresee — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:44:58 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

I’ve spent a lifetime watching new dotcoms launch with incremental improvements in user experience. And I’ve tried to copy the best of it for Backcountry.com and our associated sites. And then along comes Mint.com and it humbles me completely. The site works so beautifully and seamlessly that it leapfrogs all other interactive design. Almost everyone is nervous about sharing financial data on the web and yet Mint tackles by pulling in your data so quickly and efficiently it almost happens before you know it. And then it’s all parsed into instantly useful information. It’s so brilliant in its simplicity.

User Experience = $5 Million per Employee (adaptivepath.com)

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