B2C Overview Handout by Eric Goldman

B2C Overview

Eric Goldman, Epinions, Inc.

1.                   AGENDA

  • The Current B2C Environment
  • Getting/Keeping Users
  • What to Buy
  • Where to Buy
  • The Purchase

2.                   THE CURRENT B2C ENVIRONMENT

  • B2C is a dirty acronym
  • Financing sources have dried up
  • Layoffs and fuckedcompany.com
  • Will tight economics lead to more rationality?

3.                   GETTING/KEEPING USERS

  • Search engines
  • Email/spam
  • Online advertising
  • Co-branding/affiliate deals
  • Offline advertising
  • Contests, sweepstakes, giveaways and loyalty programs
  • Framing

4.                   WHAT TO BUY

  • Obtaining product data
  • Obtaining editorial reviews
  • Obtaining user reviews
  • Recommendation engines

5.                   WHERE TO BUY

  • Obtaining pricing data
  • Deep linking (“mapping”)
  • Editorial integrity

6.                   THE PURCHASE

  • State regulatory issues (wine, cars, escrow, auctions)
  • Mail order rule
  • Inaccurate pricing
  • UCC/UCITA
  • Drop shipment
  • Payment, wallets, and unified billing
  • Sales taxes
  • Privacy and security

About the Speaker: Eric Goldman is General Counsel of Epinions (http://www.epinions.com), a leading website for trusted consumer advice, ratings and reviews, and an adjunct professor of cyberspace law at Santa Clara University School of Law.  He was formerly an attorney at Cooley Godward LLP, Palo Alto, CA.  He can be reached at eric@epinions.com.