So I was
thinking of what to do on a rare holiday. I sat with my best friend, my MacBook
on the bed. Surfing the net, playing online and Facebook were passé.
My mind was
restless for more. Of late, I knew the source of my latest restlessness.
It had begun
during work hours - my tryst with my destiny. My mouse, while playing darts
with me, led to click on a friendly e-comm site whose ad blinked on the screen
for some seconds.
I am not a
huge fan of online shopping. While books and gadgets are alright, more
personalized items are a strict no-no.
Till that
point of time I had never ever questioned my priority.
As the page
opened in front of me, I was fascinated by the melange of offers. I scoured
over every page, every item - and then more sites.
It struck me
with wonder. The plethora of merchandise in demand!
In fact, suddenly there was this childish enthusiasm of being a semi proclaimed omniscient demi god in this sphere. Ok, that may have stretched it too far - but I'm sure readers, you get my drift!
I rummaged
around for more- pensive and trying to discern a pattern. The judgemental me
subsided, to give way to a more keen and observant me as I pored over pages and
pages of data.
In fact,
once bitten, I felt addicted. I even felt adventurous to shop online. I went to
a clothes section and ordered for trousers - knowing that according to the site,
I will be given multiple chances of fitting.
I even got
my long awaited blender for my house. Yes, the prices were lower and the deals
were made to impress.
I was
looking for fast love - and that's what I was getting.
Therein my shopping
sojourn began. Shopping a la carte to shopping in a buffet - the only driving force
- my need to bid right, buy the best.
I became my own
competition as my life began to revolve around savings and purchase out of
compulsion.
Now as I became more
addicted in my own game, I realized what I was missing. In all actuality, what
was not there - that I could have been potentially missing.
What struck me was that,
while, there was a macro structure in place with regards to shopping online,
yet the micro controls were not too delved into.
In simpler layman's
language, perhaps, a customization model was amiss. The sovereignty of the
consumer, which of course we have studied so much and so hard in all economy /
history books - was underplayed.
The thought alone
deserved a fuller attention. For example have you ever imagined that one day
perhaps you saw an online deal that promised a holiday for 2 in a certain
exotic place along with a blender and a
car-wash?
Or maybe, when you're
looking for that model of an electric gadget, you find everything under the sun
but that. What do you feel like then? Have you imagined voicing out your
thoughts in the cold crystal clarity of words and phrases?
What is it being heard
like? We all are consumers, by our birth right. But is the respect evinced
clearly or really there?
Is there any platform
for the consumer vox? The vox box is of merit, as feedback is not only needed
as a vent but also a correction technique. Of course we all know this. But my
worry was - is this where the buck stopped? What is beyond this?
I am sure, everyone has
myriad of suggestions or thoughts. Every marketer is a consumer. Can't he think
like one? or the profile, structures his thinking - in alignment with budget
restrictions or company policies? But if we cater to the mass, why not hear
them out? Every word has a pearl of wisdom hidden. And like I said, every
sentence is information with an insight. Why not make a model to glean that?
Questions haunted my
mind - spirals that led to more concentric circles. I was looking for solutions,
which most probably people had not foreseen.
In my mind, there
clearly was a gap. It needed to be looked into.
