My Virtual Model

eCommerce did not do as badly this holiday season, yes, by all accounts it did not grow by double digits this year, but anything that is not writen in red is good. One of the greatest things about working in the eCommerce industry is innovation. There is always new research, solutions, and features designed to help consumers buy and retailers make money.

I recently was made aware by @ashukairy of a new solution called My Virtual Model which allows consumers to create a virtual “me” dress me up, and get opinion from the crowd. Social Shopping.

So the question is, what will that do to eCommerce.

I will have to think hard, to come up with the last eCommerce “KILLER APP”, and that is because there is none, if such a thing was ever produced, eTailers wont be averaging a 2% website conversion rate.

So form the get go, MVM is not the next revolution in eCommerce. especially since it only applies to apparel, and when one looks at eCommerce and subtracts Travel, electronics, software downloads, etc…. apparel is only a small portion of eCommerce, so MVM is already limited in its impact.

The question then becomes what is the impact of MVM on the apparel eTailers. It would be naive of me to guestimate that. I am sure MVM has done the research and have an idea how many this service appeals to.  I will say, that MVM will certainly appeal to “some”, and if that “some” is enough to justify the investment in rolling out MVM, then  eTailers would be well advised to give it a shot. After all, anything that can bump up conversion ever slightly is well worth the effort.

So good luck MVM, in the mean time, I am awaiting the eCommerce Killer App