A new online shopping experience

Amazon have just launched a new shopping experience for Christmas , their Holiday Toy list.

It's a nice way to browse through a huge range of items quickly and easily - you use the arrow keys on your keyboard to scan through items then press the space bar to zoom in and out when something catches your eye. When you zoom in, a video of the product starts playing to demonstrate the features or show a short trailer/promo of the item.

The Holiday Toy list is based on the Amazon WindowShop interface which is currently being used to showcase their editors picks, new releases and bestsellers.

Nice & friendly packaging

For some people, the experience of taking a new product out of its packaging is something to share with other fans of the product or brand. You can find "unpacking my new gadget" videos and photos all over the web.

It shows that the packaging to protect and promote a product can become an important part of its buying experience. Apple have designed amazing packaging for their products for years - very minimal with everything packed in neatly.

On the other hand, some companies make getting to your new purchase as difficult as possible.

Recognising this issue, Amazon recently launched an initiative to alleviate frustration with its Frustration-Free Packaging range of products developed in partnership with manufacturers.

Adding to this, they also have a special section of environmentally friendly products in the Amazon Green department and detailed information about their commitment to the environment.

Is all that plastic packaging just the protective wrapper that consumers throw away or does it present a smart marketing opportunity?

Social media algorithms

I've been reading through quite a few articles recently about the methods that social websites use to 'socialise' and rank content that members add and interact with.

I recently worked on a similar system for BT Tradespace* to help the freshest, most popular and highest quality content bubble to the surface. These general rules are driven by detailed 'algorithms' that drive the site to make it more relevant and valuable for everyone -

• Newer content keeps the site interesting and attracts regular visits
  
• Hot topics can gain broader popularity quickly
• Content being flagged as good quality can be suggested to other visitors.

Here are some of my references and interesting analysis of other algorithms -

• A Comprehensive Look at Digg's Recommendation Engine
• Reddit, Stumbleupon, Del.icio.us and Hacker News Algorithms Exposed!
• How Reddit is Flirting With The Future of Social News
• The Digg Algorithm - Unofficial FAQ
• The Digg Algorithm has Changed
• 4 Pillars of Social Media Algorithms … Trust x4

(* I work at BT Tradespace)

Get bigger or make money?

Seems like Facebook's focus is on growing instead of making money - at least for now...

As mentioned in CNet's Facebook article, this seems a lot like the early dot-com days - build a website and figure out how to make money from it later.
(For a funnier take on this style of business plan, see this reference to a South Park episode about Underpants Gnomes).

Maybe this time around there is more of a chance it will work out, as the COO of Facebook mentions, "...this is the moment people are joining social networks."