The State of One-to-One Online: How American business is using the Web
Suddenly it seems like every business in the country has a Web site – from industry giants like Microsoft and General Motors to the corner pizza joint. The upshot is that merely hanging a shingle on the Internet no longer guarantees any sort of competitive advantage.
Instead, the companies that are extracting the most value from their online efforts are those that have learned to take advantage of the Web’s potential for interactivity, customization and real-time gratification.
To identify some of the leaders in these areas, Peppers and Rogers Group commissioned a series of studies intended to identify those companies that are among the Web’s best practitioners. The following represents excerpts from the most recent study, selected to represent a broad cross-section of industries. To obtain a copy of the full report, which features comprehensive analysis of more than 30 leading Web sites, contact Peppers and Rogers at www.1to1.com, or call 203-316-5121.
Value America (www.ValueAmerica.com)
Site Summary: Value America is a vast online marketplace offering a large variety of goods to both consumers and businesses.
Key 1to1 Concepts: Enticing customers to register
Privacy policy
Multiple billing/shipping
Order tracking
Target Audience: Consumer and business
E-Commerce site
Why the Site Made Our Top 25
This site is extremely easy to use and customer-friendly. First, it does a superb job of enticing customers to register by offering them special discounts, faster checkout, personalized features and Value Dollars for future purchases. The site also has one of the best privacy policies of any company on the Web: It states succinctly that Value America will not sell, trade, rent, lease or loan personal information about its members or customers to any outside party.
Key 1to1 Aspects
The site has several other features that aid customers in purchasing products. Registered members can use an address book to customize their billing and address preferences. Once a purchase has been completed, members can easily check their order status, and can confirm whether payment has been received or if it is pending. Members can also determine if the order has shipped or is awaiting shipment. The site even has an application where members can quickly find the necessary accessories, supplies and replacement parts for products they have previously purchased.
Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition (www.WSJ.com)
Site Summary: The Online Edition of The Wall Street Journal comes complete with customized content/news, portfolios and e-mails through its Personal Journal functionality.
Key 1to1 Concepts: Collecting customer preferences
Personalization
Target Audience: Consumer and business
Why the Site Made Our Top 25
The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition is the leading online newspaper and it takes full advantage of the power of personalization. Members can access the business stories they want to read, select news about the companies and industries most important to them, and create tailored portfolios. By providing these features, the WSJ has created a truly personal edition of its prestigious offline newspaper.
Key 1to1 Aspects
The Personal Journal is the center of the site’s one-to-one functionality. Members can choose from more than 100 regular columns or features and can save and track those of interest to them on the Personal Journal Favorites page. Members can also create up to five folders, each containing up to eight industries, companies or keywords that indicate the users’ interests. The site also features other personalization capabilities, such as e-mail alerts on breaking news stories and daily roundups on business and technology-related issues. It even lets members create up to five customized portfolios.
Federal Express (www.FedEx.com)
Site Summary: The leading global express shipping company offers a full range of shipping and tracking services online.
Key 1to1 Concepts: Enticing customers to register
Privacy policy
Multiple billing/shipping
Order tracking
Target Audience: Business
E-Commerce site
Why the Site Made Our Top 25
FedEx remains the online leader in the shipping industry, processing 63 million electronic transmissions daily and delivering millions of items a day around the world. Equipped with a FedEx account number and FedEx InterNetShip services, users are provided with features that enable them to easily ship and track products. Empowering their customers by placing more and more one-to-one services in their hands, FedEx is increasing customer satisfaction and building loyalty.
Key 1to1 Aspects
Registered customers can access a variety of services, including shipping and tracking packages, reviewing shipping history forthe past 45 days, and creating an address book with up to 300 entries. An innovation in the area of Push Flexibility is the site’s capacity to inform customers when a package reaches its destination. Customers can check shipments via e-mail or the online tracking feature. FedEx even lets customers receive information on their Palm Pilots or other hand-held computers. The site also includes e-Business Advisor, which provides personalized advice and information.
Charles Schwab (www.Schwab.com)
Site Summary: Leading online investing site allows customers to trade, research stocks and conduct other financial transactions.
Key 1to1 Concepts: Individualization
Allowing customers to customize look and feel
Differentiating customers
Partner integration
Target Audience: Consumer
E-Commerce site
Why the Site Made Our Top 25
Charles Schwab is a leading online broker because of its extensive personalization features. Schwab customers can create watch lists to get stock quotes, charts and news. Customers can also use an innovative asset-allocation function. After answering questions ranging from risk tolerance to time frame, their portfolios are analyzed and weighed against model portfolios. A recent innovation is the site’s My Schwab page, featuring customized news and stock quotes.
Key 1to1 Aspects
Like rival DLJ Direct, Charles Schwab does a great job convincing users to register and open an account. The site features an extensive membership benefits area, provides an online demonstration and offers a comparison of the various accounts offered. By offering 11 types of accounts with different features as well as multilingual services, Schwab is meeting the needs of its customers around the world. Schwab has also established integrated partnerships with Dow Jones and Standard & Poor’s (stock information), CS First Boston, Hambrecht & Quist (institutional research) and Excite (customization features).
Hallmark (www.Hallmark.com)
Site Summary: The online division of the greeting cards giant offers more than 1,000 electronic greeting cards as well as confections and collectibles.
Key 1to1 Concepts: Collecting customer preferences
Learning relationship
Organized around customer needs
Recognizes returning customers
Target Audience: Consumer
E-Commerce site
Why the Site Made Our Top 25
Hallmark.com is a well-designed, attractive site that has several powerful one-to-one features. The site allows members to enter preferences for electronic greetings, flowers, chocolates, etc. Once customers make their selections, they can submit information about gender, birthday and age. This is used by Hallmark to provide tailored suggestions sent via e-mail. Additionally, the site lets members track current order status. It also has easy-to-use gift reminder and address book features.
Key 1to1 Aspects
This site performs admirably in recognizing customers. As a registered member, a user can enter information into a log-in screen, permitting the site to drop a `cookie’ for quick, automatic sign-in next time around. Once members are logged in, they can use the site’s powerful gift navigational tool to find the products that interest them. By using the tool’s combination of pull-down menus and search engine, customers can find gifts based on occasion, category and price.
American Airlines (www.AA.com)
Site Summary: The most popular airline site on the Web, it enables users to make air and other travel reservations and to check their AAdvantage miles.
Key 1to1 Concepts: Online products/service
Integrates registration/customer information
Online/offline integration
Target Audience: Consumer and business
E-Commerce site
Why the Site Made Our Top 25
Like other travel sites on the Web, AA.com enables registered users to check fares for flights and to both configure and book airline reservations. Unlike its competitors, however, AA.com makes non-Internet communications channels readily available should a customer choose to speak to a real person. The site also has the added capability of allowing users to check their AAdvantage miles. By integrating this and other important information about its customers from its backend systems, American Airlines is able to maintain a holistic view of each customer’s needs and provide them with better and more personalized service.
Key 1to1 Aspects
For all the site’s sophisticated personalization and customization, Web strategists can learn the most from AA.com’s simple practice of filling in applications/ order forms from stored customer data. Doing this well locks in the loyalty of the time-starved frequent flyer and AA.com continues to be the leader in implementing this practice. The airline’s customers never have to tell its site the same thing twice.
