Long-term E-commerce success is in a big way relative to Relationship Commerce, building relationships and interacting with consumers. Relationships are extremely important. The relationship a customer has with a company can make or break the company’s success… this is perfectly exhibited with what Amazon does to nurture a relationship.
But what about true relationships that already exist online as the basis for commerce instead of the other way around? Bloggers, authors, celebrities, and any internet personalities who have a deep relationship with their followers can now get what I call ROR – Return on Relationship, with a new kind of Relationship Commerce. The company for which I am on the Board of Advisors and Chief Social Marketing Officer, OpenSky, connects people with existing relationships, we call them Influencers (sellers), to people who make great products, we call them Innovators (suppliers).
OpenSky provides a means for our “sellers” to connect their trusted followers to the products they write about, and are passionate about! All this happens in the OpenSky Distributed Cart without taking the users away from the site where the content about the product and relationship originated and exists. We help Influencers enhance their relationships and provide Innovators with a new means of distribution. Think of it as a Relationship Commerce ecosystem.
Ted Rubin