Presentation held at the International UPA 2010 Conference in Munich.

1. The Amazonization of Global E-Commerce
User Experience
Arne Ki(ler, Fork Unstable Media
UPA Interna7onal. München, 27th Mai 2010

2. HELLO UPA.
Arne Ki3ler: Director Consul7ng
Fork Unstable Media
Interac7ve Agency in Hamburg, Germany since 1996
Digital Branding, Interac7ve Design and E‐Commerce
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

3. INTRODUCTION
18.01.10
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4. AMAZONIZATION – WHAT‘S THAT?
18.01.10
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

5. EXTREME AMAZONIZATION.
Wise use of patterns or dangerous loss of differentiation???
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

6. OR, MORE GENERALLY:
THERE IS A BALANCING ACT
BETWEEN STANDARDS AND
DIVERSITY IN E-COMMERCE
18.01.10
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

7. MORE BALANCING ACTS.
Standard
vs
Diversity
Amazonization
Differentiation
Globalization
Localization
Equalization
Individualization
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

8. MY PRESENTATION TODAY.
My Presentation:
Introduction to the 3 balancing acts
Pros & Cons to consider
Simplified model to handle a combination of all 3
aspects
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

9. AMAZONIZATION vs. DIFFERENTIATION
18.01.10
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10. THE CONTEXT.
Market leaders such as Amazon play an
important role in shaping usage patterns that
influence many e-commerce websites.
This is special for e-commerce because for other
genres there are no similarly influential players.
We have labelled this effect „Amazonization“
even though there are other influential shops, too.
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

11. AMAZONIZATION: HOMEPAGE-GRID.
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12. AMAZONISATION: MEGA-DROPDOWNS.
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13. E-COMMERCE PATTERNS = AMAZON?
Amazon cited as reference for all major e-commerce patterns
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14. COMMISSION-COMMERCE
A new type of service companies offer brands a
mostly commision-based setup and
maintenance of their online-shop.
Even though the underlying platforms such as
Demandware offer full differentiation, this
business-model can easily result in shops that
place common practice before the brand they
are representing.
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

15. AMAZONIZATION: ADVANTAGES.
Familiarity to users
Low responsibility of failure
Temptation to skip testing
Easy decision, „cheap“ development
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

16. AMAZONIZATION: CHALLENGES.
Loss of differentiation
Considering the long-tail: Risk of becoming
economically unviable
Context: Amazon is NOT an average shop!
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

17. AMAZONISATION vs. DIFFERENTIATION.
Patterns are good!
Visual Design needs to differentiate
Content Design is important
But: Beware of the context!
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

18. Globalization vs. Localization
18.01.10
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

19. THE CONTEXT.
E-Commerce is global and has risen in relevance
for companies. E-Commerce has global
management attention.
A high level of Standardization has become the
most common approach to Web Globalization.
Centralized Development and Technology
Mastersite with Global Templates
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

20. EXAMPLES
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21. GLOBAL STANDARDS: ADVANTAGES.
Cost Effectiveness
Consistent brand appearance
Quality Assurance
Comparability
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22. GLOBAL STANDARDS: CHALLENGES.
Users are local!!
Local variations in assortment and structure
Languages / Room for text
Measurements, address conventions etc.
Marketing
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

23. GLOBALIZATION vs. LOCALIZATION.
Global templates & platforms will last
But: Competition for UX is local
Modular concepts and design required
Organisation and processes matter
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

24. GENERALIZATION vs. INDIVIDUALIZATION
18.01.10
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

25. THE CONTEXT.
Amazon were one of the first and few companies
to turn the late 90s Personalization hype into
individualization features that actually offer
benefit to the users and helped to drive sales.
While Individualization remains a promising
approach from a user perspective there are also
valid reasons for retailers to offer an equalized
shop.
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

26. INDIVIDUALIZATION EXAMPLE: CONTENT
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27. INDIVIDUALIZATION EXAMPLE: UI
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28. INDIVIDUALIZATION: ADVANTAGES.
Potentially relevant shopping suggestions
Catering for usage preferences
Potentially better sales
Increased customer loyalty
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

29. INDIVIDUALIZATION: CHALLENGES.
Good Individualization takes effort
Bad Individualization is worse than none
Strong brands want/need to guide users
and provide orientation
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

30. EQUALIZATION vs. INDIVIDUALIZATION.
Good Individualization remains difficult
Individualization will benefit from
m-commerce and social commerce.
Focused shops or shops with
standardised goods and broad user base
can best benefit from Individualization
Brand-Guidance vs. Individualization
(only service Features!)
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

31. 3 IMPORTANT STRATEGIC QUESTIONS
Standard
vs
Diversity
Amazonization
Differentiation
Globalization
Localization
Equalization
Individualization
How can we look at all 3 perspectives at once?
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

32. THE CHALLENGE:
HOW CAN WE BALANCE ALL 3
ASPECTS AT ONCE?
18.01.10
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

33. POSITIONING MODEL
FOR BUSINESS MODELS AND FEATURES
18.01.10
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

34. POSITIONING MODEL.
Differen7a7on
Amazoniza7on
Globaliza7on Localiza7on
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

35. SECTORS VISUALIZING TENDENCIES.
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36. EXAMPLE: MAX. STANDARDIZATION
Amazonisation + Globalization + Equalization
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

37. EXAMPLE: MAXIMUM DIVERSITY.
Differentiation + Localization + Individualization
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38. EXAMPLARY POSITIONING
Fashion Brand Shop
18.01.10
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39. FASHION BRAND SHOP.
Differentiation + Globalization + Equalization
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

40. FASHION BRAND SHOP.
Differentiation:
Differentiation needed to
communicate the brand‘s
image and personality.
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

41. FASHION BRAND SHOP.
Globalization:
Apart from functional localization of details, the
brand will pretty much appear the same in every
market.
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

42. FASHION BRAND SHOP.
Equalization:
For a brand shop it is
important that the brand
is presented in a strong
and guiding way.
Individualization might
let the brand appear
deliberate.
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

43. EXAMPLARY POSITIONING
Order Summary Page
18.01.10
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44. ORDER SUMMARY PAGE.
Amazonization + Localization + Equalization
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

45. ORDER SUMMARY PAGE.
Amazonization:
At this critical step of
the checkout process it
is wise to stick to
established patterns
and avoid irritation.
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

46. ORDER SUMMARY PAGE.
Localization:
This page sums up all previous checkout-steps
and thus needs to reflect the local variations for
payment, postage etc.
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

47. ORDER SUMMARY PAGE.
Equalization:
Even though this page
features mostly
individual user data it is
not considered an
individualized page.
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

48. SUMMARY
18.01.10
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

49. SUMMARY.
Standardisation and diversity are both
valid and relevant aspects in E-Commerce
E-Commerce teams are facing a
balancing act for at least 3 of such aspects
The ideal combination of all perspectives
will vary for different business-models
and features
© 2010 Fork Unstable Media

50. DANKE!
I appreciate your feedback!
arne@fork.de
@arnekittler
slideshare.com/rn3_hh
PS: Enjoy the party!!