As we have observed, retailers are moving forward on ways to begin to monetize, or derive tangible brand value from, what is commonly referred to as Web 2.0. There are a myriad of examples of these efforts in the marketplace, some compelling and some less than compelling.
Whether retailers define Web 2.0 in its purely technical contexts, AJAX support, RSS feeds, RIAs, XML, etc or view the 'killer app' of Web 2.0 to be its more social aspects, many retailers are beginning to come to the understanding that Web 2.0 initiatives in isolation are not game-changing. The social experiments and technology pilots, while interesting in that they confer some valuable experience in terms of what works and what does not, tend not to have the desired impacts. Retailers on the cutting edge of Web 2.0 are those that have found very tangible (read: ROI) ways to connect Web 2.0 to Online Retail.
While the convergence of Web 2.0 and Online Retail conceptually may seem quite simple, executing on a unified Web 2.0 and Online Retail strategy is complicated. A big impediment to this approach is organizational. Many retailers have virtual teams and or small subsets of their marketing organizations to Web 2.0 pet projects. These teams typically do not have good operational or technical linkages to their counterparts from the "Dot Com" team. Further, these teams typically are not marching toward the same goals as the Dot Com teams.
From a technical perspective, the primary impediment to good Web 2.0 and Online Retail convergence is flexibility. This comes in a number of different forms. The key pillar however is one of service orientation. On the face of it, service orientation is a pedestrian concept for most retailers. Many retailers have invested heavily in what they believe to be a service oriented multi-channel architecture. The litmus test for this is for retailers to ask themselves how they would deliver on given certain Web 2.0 business initiatives. A good example would be how to add integrated buying capabilities to a social networking venture. Or how to enable social features into existing commerce environments. A technical example would be how to implement an AJAX-centered microsite for a specific product category. The answer for most retailers is either a complete re-platform of their eCommerce infrastructure or at a minimum, a huge development effort.
Look for retailers pushing Web 2.0 efforts in some of the following areas as examples:
For an interesting venture into Web 2.0 meets Online Retail, check out Amazon's Askville at www.askville.com.