With so much money spent on eCommerce, a lot of sophisticated technology has gone into managing this gigantic market from UI design to number crunching to business intelligence. However, a large majority of eCommerce sites lack a more basic and deeply rooted foundation in the human psyche that drives our desire for consumption–that is to “keep up with the Jones.’” But keeping up with the Jones’ is about more than social competition with our neighbor: when many people have tried and liked something we gain confidence that we too will like it. I want what they’ve got because many others have tried it and liked it too. I feel at ease with my purchase decision because it is “safe,” socially speaking. eCommerce, like much of human activity, needs to be a group activity. We need to feel the community and receive support from the community. Individual humans, regardless how much we believe in individualism, are powerless and cannot survive in this world for long by ourselves. Yet for most eCommerce sites, you cannot see another soul there while you are online- and that is where the biggest opportunity for eCommerce site owners lie.

We call the thousands of parallel online shoppers on your site the “Invisible Crowd.” They are your untapped, unleashed hidden community that can boost your online sales by as much as 15% to 50%, as experienced by our customers! Don’t believe the numbers? Amazon.com generates 35% of its revenue by products with user recommendations. The majority of Netflix rentals happen in the same way… Interestingly, they are just scratching the surface of community power but with a major flaw: they are relying on the thing that is least reliable – explicit human feedback, such as a survey with a misleading survey bias. A true Community Guided Web needs to tap into the implicit behaviors of shoppers because “Actions speak louder than words!” With implicit behaviors, the true community power is discovered and used to generate more sales and larger transactions. Then the “silent majority” is heard and served!

It’s easy to say but hard to capture the needs of the silent majority. Yet as a business, it is a must-do. After all, if you can’t serve the majority, your business is not going to go far. In the coming weeks, we’ll discuss some of the key hidden social science principles that can profoundly change your eCommerce business in the way that mirrors real world commerce with the efficiency and reach of eCommerce. Stay tuned…

- Jack