Humanity in e-commerce: How web apps can bring people together
I think we can all agree that the internet sometimes feels like a huge barrier to human connection. One-click purchasing on Amazon is awesome when I just can’t be bothered to get out of bed, but I’ve also spent hours scouring websites for a cheap airfare and desperately wishing that a real human voice could just explain all these extra fees and cancellation policies.
Not to mention all the times I’ve given up on a customer service chatbot only to call the 800 number and be told by the automated system that hold times exceed seventy-three minutes. Sometimes all I want from my laptop is a little humanity.
But the internet isn’t all doom and gloom for human connection! In fact, with websites like Meetup, Airbnb, or TaskRabbit, the internet continues to provide new ways for people to find, help, and connect with each other in real life.
One of my favorite websites has been proving this since their beginnings back in 2005. Etsy, the online marketplace for handmade goods from around the world, has made it their business to connect buyers and sellers who value a personal touch. And their success is obvious. In less than 10 years they’ve grown to over one million active sellers and have logged transactions in over 200 countries. Still, their CEO, Chad Dickerson, insists that “even as it’s grown, it’s still a very intimate community.”
In his interview with Fast Company’s Amber Mac, Dickerson talks about the maker movement and attributes Etsy’s success to “the fundamental idea of buying and selling and making a connection with a person.” This unique connection is why so many couples look to Etsy for personalized wedding rings or baby blankets and why I prefer to commission artwork for my home on Etsy than to pick through the displays at Pier 1 or Target. (It’s also why I have to log on to Etsy with a clear purpose, purchase, and price in mind, or I spend way too much time browsing through all of the fascinating vendors and products.)
As important as e-commerce has become to our 21st-century world, Dickerson insists that people still seek out the human element in online buying and selling. He says, “We really see Etsy as this platform that’s reinventing the way the economy works and making it very much centered around people.”
At Praxent, we’ve also built custom software that generates real human connection for our client partners. For NRG Solar we created a cloud-based portal for customized solar installation estimates—taking into account everything from the size and pitch of a home’s roof, to local tax laws, to the angle of the sun at different times of year. This solution allows field reps to have personalized face-to-face interactions with potential solar customers, right in their own homes. And for our partner First Crush Tastings we’ve developed a platform that matches talented food-and-beverage ambassadors with tastings opportunities in the field. The new virtual platform provides them with the brand and product information they need to to create a memorable tasting experience for shoppers in real life.
With these and other projects, Praxent has found new ways to connect people online and in person. One of our passions as an agency is creating innovative ways to help people help each other – like Etsy, bringing that human element back to the internet.