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1. RETAIL
Reaping the Benefits of RSS
While a family-run gardening business dating back to the 1800s may seem to be an unlikely leader in next-generation Internet technology, Burpee has managed to implement some of the most basic Web 2.0 technologies -- a blog and an RSS feed -- with impressive results.
At the suggestion of an employee who used RSS feeds to find targeted content for personal reading, the company launched its own feed two-plus years ago to distribute a blog that features customers' gardens, alerts subscribers to new offerings and special sales, and provides gardening tips. After researching different products, it added a tool from Bazaarvoice Inc. that enables customers to post user reviews on products.
"It's sort of like talking over the fence to your neighbor," Zeidler says. "It's created this constant communication instead of just seasonal" interaction. At many midmarket companies like Burpee, CIOs are heading up Web 2.0 projects, but plenty have e-commerce experts like Zeidler on board.
While the company doesn't measure the empirical benefit of its Web 2.0 tools, the company's sales have increased since launching the feed, Zeidler says.
Initially, Zeidler and his bosses, the company president and executive vice president, were concerned about giving customers a forum where they could post negative product reviews, but most comments have been fair, Zeidler says. The company does keep one remedy in place: If someone posts inaccurate information -- for example, when a customer complains on the site about a product when the problem actually stems from the delivery service -- Burpee reserves the right to reject it from the site.
The rewards of customer reviews far outweigh the disadvantages, he says. Sales of five-star products shot up far more than sales of products with negative reviews decreased, Zeidler says. The reviews are also enlightening for Burpee's leadership, which uses customer feedback to make product improvements. "You don't get that much of a critical mass from a focus group," he adds.
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