In light of the recent iPhone 3GS announcement this week at Apple’s WWDC conference, I investigated pricing and navigated through the “upgrade” steps made available on Apple’s site. My wife currently has an aging Nokia phone that is eligible for an upgrade and the 8GB iPhone fits the bill for her needs.

Abandoning the purchase funnel

Having said that, I went through the multi-step validation process on Apple’s site, but it was unable to retrieve our account information from AT&T, to which I was prompted to search for a local Apple Store. Not needing to do this, I simply abandoned the purchase funnel with a mental note to “visit the store this weekend” since I hit a dead end on the site and wasn’t going to be able to complete the upgrade online.

Automated follow-up to purchase abandonments

About 15 minutes later, I received the following, automated email:

Very impressive — an automated follow-up recognizing that I abandoned the purchase funnel for the iPhone upgrade. I must say that I am not used to this type of marketing where the website acts like a true salesperson.

Technically speaking, it’s not difficult to implement this. It’s a perfect blend of leveraging technology to solve a business problem: how do you capture the consumer’s attention after they’ve left your site without making a purchase?

Earlier this year the Amerock.com website become another branded site that our E-Business team was to manage. The challenge that came with this responsibility was migrating the “look and feel” of the existing site to a different platform. What entailed was about a week of work to craft a new set of stylesheets that essentially made the “new” site look nearly identical to the old site.

We did however take liberties in updating products based on new product rollouts and added functionality that didn’t previous exist. Here are some before and after screen shots:

Product Navigation (Old)

Old site consisted of a 4-layer navigation schema:

1. Choose Product Category
2. Choose Product Type
3. Filter Product List (Choose 1 Finish, Style, and/or Collection)
4. View Product (See details, finishes, etc.)

The problem with this style of navigation is it forced the end-user to make too narrow their product selection too soon in the process just to see a product list. Finish coordination across product types is important in cabinet hardware, so the desire to see “all products with a satin nickel finish” needed to be possible. With the old site, this could not be done.

Above we see Decorative Hardware product types.

Here we see a product listing, but we can only choose from thedrop-down menus for further filtering options.

And here we see product details with finishes. Lots of unused real estate.

Product Navigation (new)

A simple 2-step process exists:

1. Choose Product Category (from the main navigation of the site)
2. Select multiple filters and see your product results

Select multiple filters across multiple filter types. An additional bonus is seeing the filter “counts” so there’s no guesswork when you’re clicking on options wondering if you will see any additional product results or not.

Clear visibility in the left-hand navigation of what filters are selected and which product results you’re viewing. Additionally, there are “results per page” options as well.

Product comparison also didn’t exist on the old site. It is now available on the new site.

Image zooming was also unavailable on the old site. Thanks to Adobe Scene7’s dynamic image zooming technology, we use it on all product pages to enable the end-user to zoom in on-the-fly on the product image.

Table Stakes

It seems odd to be showing some of the above features as they are mostly “table stakes” features these days. However, there are many large e-commerce sites that still do not offer simple things like product image zooming, unlimited product comparison functionality (do I really need to be limited to comparing 3 products at a time so the site design stays scaled proportionately?), and “results per page” customizations. Amerock.com is now fairly level-set with these “table stakes” features an we begin the continuous improvement with repeatable processes.

Earlier this year, the Amerock Cabinet Hardware brand within our corporation was merged into our business unit already consisting of Levolor and Kirsch to create a combined Global Business Unit called “Decor”. The Decor Business Unit rolls up under the Home and Family Group of Newell Rubbermaid as outlined here.

What’s exposed when businesses merge

Previously, Amerock was grouped under a different Global Business Unit and run independently of operations at Levolor and Kirsch. The merging of these business units has presented an interesting challenge from a website strategy perspective. The challenges are not unique to us and the purpose of this post is to not outline the specific challenges we faced but rather to focus on the high-level areas that mergers and acquisitions will eventually uncover:

Business processes, software platforms, job responsibilities, and online strategy must adapt to the new environment.

Enterprise E-Business must be scalable

I am fortunate to manage a team of people who are eager to take on new challenges and responsibilities. What we quickly discovered as it related to our Online Platform was that it had all been built around a single business (blinds & shades). This meant some of the software was specific to business processes unique to Levolor and Kirsch but more specifically, our business processes were very tied to Levolor and Kirsch.

When Amerock was infused into the mix, we had to re-engineer several areas (listed below). I won’t go into how we modified these processes but at a high level, these were the core areas impacted:

Enterprise E-Business must function on repeatable processes

I cannot stress this enough particularly in the past few years in working in a Fortune 500 environment after coming from a small business of 20-25 employees. The enterprise is too massive for any one person to “know it all” so processes must be rigid, repeatable, with good people employed to manage through the processes and modify the processes when they identify deficiencies.

Tribal knowledge is acceptable in small business and is what enables small business to be agile. Tribal knowledge contaminates the enterprise, especially in the E-business arena. If an enterprise process cannot be repeated by more than one person without significant “hand holding,” then it is not a repeatable process. A merger or acquisition will quickly expose deficiencies in processes.

Scalable, repeatable processes does NOT equal inflexible online experience

Perhaps one area where IT folks get it wrong most often is deploying a scalable, repeatable process that limits creativity (particularly as it relates to an online experience). Scalable and repeatable processes must inherently have a mechanism for dealing with unique business requirements and the ongoing management of these “exceptions.” This is all the more reason why the E-Business/IT group needs a seat at the (business strategy) table. Without knowing the direction of the business, it is impossible to anticipate every possible scenario and build scalable, repeatable processes that will last.

I was floored when I saw the following article in a recent MarketingVOX daily newsletter:

Frustrated by Difficulty, Half of Marketers Forgo Analytics

Marketers will continue to invest significantly in online marketing this year, but less than half (47%) actually use analytics to measure their campaigns, and one-fifth only have a ‘basic’ website, according to the sixth annual marketing survey from Alterian (via MarketingCharts).

A marketing department can be a competitive advantage, but only if marketers understand how to measure campaign effectiveness.

Marketing budgets are usually the first to get trimmed in difficult economic times and it’s no surprise with over half of marketers not being able to tie a return (in revenue, customer satisfaction, brand awareness, etc.) to marketing dollars invested. A CFO at any company is going to quickly zero-in on this spending and cut what they don’t understand and certainly what isn’t being measured.

Are you measuring the effectiveness of your website with web analytics?

Free analytics tools readily available from Google and Yahoo! allow you to jump right in. But, it’s not just the access to the technology that will help derive value from marketing investments; ultimately, it’s accountability and the desire to continually improve your campaigns. Without either of these two characteristics, then you’re just viewed as an “expense” that can eventually be cut.

The last 2 years in web startups and general usability improvements online have been fascinating. A product of this innovation period is a consumer/userbase of individuals who come to expect the same experience out of every web-based application they use online and at their day jobs. I love the passion!

There was a good post and subsequent discussion started at this blog asking “Why do enterprise applications suck?”

There is no disputing that most enterprise apps are terrible. Let’s examine why:

1. Enterprise applications span careers. Very rarely do you get an opportunity to start at ground zero in the enterprise with an application. Web startups have the luxury of starting with a blank sheet of paper. In the enterprise, you’re either integrating with legacy systems or building on existing processes that are engrained in the business. Furthermore, long-tenured “champions” are hard to come by as it relates to enterprise applications which brings me to my next point:
2. Enterprise applications are inherited. In my case, I’ve inherited a handful of applications from predecessors who inherited applications from their predecessors. Often times in the enterprise, applications that have been in production have years of usage behind them and are tightly woven into day-to-day business processes. Well, there must be documentation on how the software operates, right? Not quite.
3. Enterprise applications are wide in focus. Most web-based startups are narrow in their focus. In the enterprise, one solution rarely fits all needs and business processes, so you’re forced to do patchwork between disparate technologies. The startups that try to be “all things to all people” ultimately fail. Look at these lists of startups out of TechStars and you’ll find that they’re all laser-beam focused. Enterprise application providers are selling “one size fits all” solutions to corporate clients, so don’t plan on there being a community of “theme developers” for your enterprise app like there are for Wordpress blogs.
4. In the early days, the enterprise valued function over form. Looking back as little as 5 years ago, companies were still just discovering web technologies. When going from a manual, paper-based process to your first automated, electronic solution, everyone’s going to love it. Fast forward a few years and here we are, usability stewards with high expectations of web application usability. We’ve been spoiled with free services from the Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, and other online entities.

There’s a paradigm shift taking place with the expectations of applications

The evolving nature of web applications is no different than any other maturing industry. Automotive manufacturers experienced the same challenges. Early automobiles valued function: getting you from point A to point B. As that became the standard, automobiles had to differentiate on other features. Early enterprise applications valued function, however in the world of applications, advancements are not measured in decades like automobiles, they are measured in years or even months.

The enterprise will catch up.

Just like most consumers don’t rush out and buy the latest car or truck to take advantage of the latest and greatest innovations from the manufacturer, enterprises aren’t going to invest in software upgrades that don’t promise increased top-line sales or improved bottom line results.

That 1999 model year vehicle still serves its purpose — insurance is cheap, you have no car payments, and it still runs despite the occasional service it requires. The bells and whistles in new automobiles sure are attractive but they just aren’t enough to sway you to make the plunge for a new automobile. The same thinking is taking place in the enterprise with regards to the applications the organization invested in years ago.

I was happy to read that Talend secured $12 Million in funding. We’ve long been a proponent of Talend, beginning in early 2008 completely gutting home-grown ETL and Middleware applications and processes by leveraging the open source tool. With quotes on ETL software from the big boys coming in north of $200K, the open source investment (we essentially pay for a “pro” version of the server along with enterprise support — substantially less than $200K).

There is a place for open source in the enterprise. As development shops seek to be more agile, budget-conscious, and innovative this year, the ability to move quickly and without the sometimes bureaucratic-funding-approval-process is important. “Do more with less” remains an important mantra in ‘09 in IT just as it did in ‘08.

As a user/subscriber of Plaxo services, one thing missing from their arsenal is 2-way syncing with Google (as of this writing, Plaxo only supports a 1-way download from Gmail — it won’t update Gmail contacts with my information on Plaxo). Today in my inbox I had an email from the Google App team announcing Google Sync for Blackberry:

As someone with a MacBook Pro (for business) running OS X and VMWare Fusion for Windows XP & Windows 2000, an iMac (for home), Blackberry (Business & Gmail access), and random access to the Internet anywhere else I go, it only takes one instance where you’re on a device without your latest and greatest contact information. My Gmail contact list was the last missing link in the plethora of address books spread across all of these devices.

Today we launched an updated look and feel to SuperMotors.net (a site which I’m one of three owners of and work on in my spare time as a hobby):

New ad size: 300×250

In addition to new features and functionality added to the site, we’ve also incorporated 300×250 banner ads. Since I run this site as a hobby-based business, it’s important that we generate revenue from as many different sources as possible in order to pay for operational costs.

How will the economy impact banner ad revenue?

With the economy going the way it is, we’ve seen a text link-based company (ZTMC Marketing) pull ads from our site due to client cut backs. Fortunately, we are diverse in our implementation of ad networks. We run ads from Tribal Fusion, ADSDAQ, Casale Media, Google AdSense, ShoppingAds, and Text-Link-Ads.

This is part of the reason we’ve expanded to offering the 300×250 banner ad size (in addition to 728×90 and 160×600). We now have additional inventory heading into the first of the year when our traffic typically peaks (due to enthusiasts staying indoors during the winter months).

I bought my wife a MacBook for Christmas this year and with it comes the embedded iSight web camera. Mac OS X comes with iChat which natively supports audio & video chatting with the built-in iSight camera. With our new arrivals of twin babies earlier this month, video chatting is becoming a hot commodity in our household between her and I as well as extended family who all live out of state.

Adium out, iChat in

Previously, I used Adium, which is a nice IM client for Mac OS X which allows you to log into virtually all IM platforms with a single application. The biggest downside with Adium is that it doesn’t support video. I always found myself having to quit Adium to use iChat when I wanted to video chat with friends/family. This was acceptable for me, but not as convenient to teach to my wife who is not as tech savvy and has multiple IM accounts on AIM, Yahoo!, and MobileMe.

I’d prefer to keep things like IM simple for her so she can worry about figuring out other things on her new computer — plus, the convenience of having one IM app that handles text, audio, and video chatting across all IM services is very convenient.

The Challenge: iChat doesn’t natively support Yahoo! Instant Messenger

iChat out-of-box supports AOL Instant Messenger, MobileMe, Mac.com, Bonjour, Google Talk, and Jabber Instant Messaging services:

Using a Jabber account, you can log into Yahoo! IM via iChat

Jabber is a free IM service and functions much like email service. You must find a Jabber provider and setup a Jabber account with them. Once you have a Jabber account, you can communicate with any other Jabber user.

The unique thing about Jabber is that it supports “transports.” Transports enable Jabber IM servers to communicate with other IM services such as Yahoo! IM, MSN, IM, AOL IM, Google Talk, etc.

The key, which was not obvious to me as I searched online for tutorials on how to do this, is to find a Jabber server that has Yahoo! IM transport capabilities. There are many Jabber servers out there which do not have Yahoo! IM transports.

Setting up a Jabber account to access Yahoo! IM via iChat: the definitive guide

1. Assuming you don’t already have a Jabber account, you must create one. To do so (on Mac OS X), download the Psi application at: http://psi-im.org (as of this writing, Psi version 0.12 is what I used).
2. Install and launch Psi
3. From the “General” menu, select “Account Setup”
4. Click “Add” to add a new account
5. The name of the account can be whatever you’d like — this is used for referencing the account in your account list.
6. Choose a Jabber server from the drop-down list. This server list will populate from Jabber.org’s service listing at http://www.jabber.org/web/Services.
   1. I used im.apinc.org as they were the only one of several which I tried with Yahoo! IM transport capabilities.
7. Choose any login and password you like for your Jabber account. This doesn’t need to match your Yahoo! screen name. Leave all other settings as-is. You may get a certificate validation message — just hit continue (this means that they have not purchased an SSL certificate and are using a free certificate).
8. After creating the account, it will show up in the Psi window. From the “Status” menu, choose “Online” to log into your Jabber account on im.apinc.org.
9. Right-click on your Jabber account name in Psi window and select “Service Directory” and click the “Browse” button on the window that appears. You will see the following window:
10. Right-click on the “Yahoo! IM Gateway” and select “add to roster”. This will add the Yahoo! IM Gateway (labeled as “im.apinc.org”) to your list in your Psi window.
11. Right-click on the newly-added item in your Psi window:
12. Select “Add/Authorize to contact list”
13. Right-click on the item again and select “Log on”.  This will prompt you for your Yahoo! ID and password. Enter them here.
14. You’re all set with the Psi application. You’ve now established your Jabber account and linked your Jabber account to the Yahoo! IM Gateway via the Jabber service. Quit Psi and launch iChat — we must now setup iChat to log into your new jabber account.
15. With iChat opened, select the “iChat” menu and choose “Preferences.” Click the “Accounts” tab.
16. Click the “+” button to create an account. Select “Jabber Account” from the Account Type drop-down menu.
17. Enter the Account name and Password you chose in step 5. Note that your account name will be in the format: username@im.apinc.org  (you must include the “@im.apinc.org” or whichever Jabber server you created your account on).
18. You must now add all of your Yahoo! IM buddies to your Jabber buddies list. Unfortunately, the Yahoo! IM buddies in your Yahoo! buddy list don’t automatically transfer over. To add a new Yahoo! IM buddy to your Jabber list, you MUST enter them in the following format: yahooid@yahoo. In other words, if your friend’s Yahoo! IM username is johndoe, you would enter this as johndoe@yahoo in your Jabber buddy list. The “@yahoo” tells the Jabber server to utilize the Yahoo! IM Gateway for routing instant messages to Yahoo! users.

Congratulations go out to Foodzie.com for receiving $1M in seed financing to support the startup’s business in building an online marketplace for artisan food producers. This is very good news for the startup, particularly in this economy.

Back in April, I posted an entry about Foodzie before Rob and Emily (founders of Foodzie & friends of mine) headed off to Colorado to start the venture as part of the TechStars program.

Foodzie recently launched with 25 artisan producers and is offering 20% off all food products on orders placed by 12/31/2008. For the latest on Foodzie’s adventure, visit their blog at http://blog.foodzie.com.