Blogginlägg

Innovative e-commerce 1 This blog will be in English...I just arrived back from Brussels and the EU-commission, after an interesting kick-off-meeting with the Expert Group for Retail Sector Innovation. Foto: Retail Sector Innovation Expert Group, January 2013 A lot of the discussions within the group will not be made public, however, I was introduced to a very interesting e-commerce actor, Bivolino.Com, and was given the permission to present their innovative business model. The company offers customized fashion shirts online. The closest Swedish example might be Tailor Store, however, there might be more Swedish e-tailers with similar ways of thinking. If you visit the web store of Bivolino, you will find several examples of tools invented in order to make the purchase both practical and at the same time, providing the customer with an experience. As a researcher there are a lot of tools that could be commented, although, in this blog I present only a few: In order to be transparant to the customer, one function of interest, is the possibility to see how customized changes affects the prize. Bivolino presents the basic prize, and when the customer chooses to add different details, the prize changes. At the end of the purchase, the customer can decide whether the customization is worth the prize or not. If not, it is easy to adjust to your liking. Postponement is the other strategy that comes obvious. Bivolino offers a generic product, which is modified by the consumer at the point of purchase, and after the purchase, production takes place. An effective way of postponement give many advantages, both to producers, retailers and also to a more sustainable way of buying. With customization products will only be produced if they are demanded. It also brings added value in terms of engagement and creativity in the purchasing process. Finally, it is easy to imagine the effects on returns... As some of you might notice, the headline "Innovative e-commerce" is marked with number 1. The intention is to present more cases in the future, which will show the on-going transformation of e-commerce, both from a Swedish and an international perspective. Finally, I would like to thank the co-founder and COO of Bivolino, Carine Moitier for a very passionate description about her business. //Malin Sundström