Keeping Up with the Joneses: Network Effects in Software Ecosystems

Explicit content warning

01/11/23 • 45 min

How does looking around at what others are buying affect purchasing behavior and why does that matter? Why do companies have to be aware of their own tendencies to be tempted to keep up with the Joneses and how can they balance risk taking and differentiation with also building on a secure tech stack?

Software FOMO

“People do things differently, they behave differently, when they think someone's observing them or when they are actually being observed.” - Brian Lange
The more contextually we look at purchasing behaviors and the more data is industry-specific, the more we can understand these behaviors
“It’s okay to buy the same,” when it comes to what back end systems are in place, “but you better be dang sure that it's in context to your brand where you're trying to be relevant.” - Dan Griffin
“Don't make it about the merchant purchasing a stack. Support the stack by being really good at what you do. And I almost look at a responsibility back to the technology company to ensure that they're staying focused on that.” - Dan Griffin
When it comes to bundling and unbundling your technology, “It's an interesting balance because there're pros and cons to both. I think both from a software company’s growth and just overall trajectory, like how they grow, then in tandem with the merchant because it's a dance. Both matter and they're both in concert with one another.” - Scott Elchison
“If you're a merchant getting into this stuff, here's the thing. You need to understand your pain points and try not to get too far ahead of yourself.” - Dan Griffin
“In areas where you don't know, lean into best practices. That's when you lean into best practices is when you feel like you don't have expertize and then you go like get after those things and start to think, "Okay, what's beyond best practices? How do I actually differentiate myself?” - Brian Lange
FOMO drives a lot of keeping up with the Joneses. “Fear actually drives a lot of purchasing. A lot. And that's not a good thing.” - Brian Lange
How have brands tried to keep up with other brands when it come to Web3, blockchain, NFTs, etc?
“The idea here is that they weren't investing in blockchain technology, but they're like, "How do we invest in the culture, in the fandoms around that?" And that's where I saw from the brand level where people were all about it. There's attention, and where there's attention there is value, there's money to be made. And so, throw your brand at it, see what sticks.” - Scott Elchison

Guests

Scott Elchison, SMS Partner Manager at Yotpo
Dan Griffin, Former Head of Partnerships at Klevu

Associated Links:

The Visions Report is a 100-page report with deep insights, created by Future Commerce.

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at [email protected] or any of our social channels; we love hearing from our listeners.

Software FOMO

“People do things differently, they behave differently, when they think someone's observing them or when they are actually being observed.” - Brian Lange
The more contextually we look at purchasing behaviors and the more data is industry-specific, the more we can understand these behaviors
“It’s okay to buy the same,” when it comes to what back end systems are in place, “but you better be dang sure that it's in context to your brand where you're trying to be relevant.” - Dan Griffin
“Don't make it about the merchant purchasing a stack. Support the stack by being really good at what you do. And I almost look at a responsibility back to the technology company to ensure that they're staying focused on that.” - Dan Griffin
When it comes to bundling and unbundling your technology, “It's an interesting balance because there're pros and cons to both. I think both from a software company’s growth and just overall trajectory, like how they grow, then in tandem with the merchant because it's a dance. Both matter and they're both in concert with one another.” - Scott Elchison
“If you're a merchant getting into this stuff, here's the thing. You need to understand your pain points and try not to get too far ahead of yourself.” - Dan Griffin
“In areas where you don't know, lean into best practices. That's when you lean into best practices is when you feel like you don't have expertize and then you go like get after those things and start to think, "Okay, what's beyond best practices? How do I actually differentiate myself?” - Brian Lange
FOMO drives a lot of keeping up with the Joneses. “Fear actually drives a lot of purchasing. A lot. And that's not a good thing.” - Brian Lange
How have brands tried to keep up with other brands when it come to Web3, blockchain, NFTs, etc?
“The idea here is that they weren't investing in blockchain technology, but they're like, "How do we invest in the culture, in the fandoms around that?" And that's where I saw from the brand level where people were all about it. There's attention, and where there's attention there is value, there's money to be made. And so, throw your brand at it, see what sticks.” - Scott Elchison

Guests

Scott Elchison, SMS Partner Manager at Yotpo
Dan Griffin, Former Head of Partnerships at Klevu

Associated Links:

The Visions Report is a 100-page report with deep insights, created by Future Commerce.

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at [email protected] or any of our social channels; we love hearing from our listeners.

Previous Episode

The Homogenization of Experiences

How can brands differentiate themselves while remaining intuitive and familiar to consumers? Are your car, phone, or shoes an outward sign of your personality? What is leading to the trend of odd-ball, zany web designs?

Different but Familiar

When it comes to experiencing a brand, the desire for something more than utilitarian varies from person to person
“You're expecting certain types of content to be delivered in a specific way. And that's part of the attraction is for it to be this really intuitive, familiar experience. So I sort of put that to the side and think about DTC sites and retailer sites as having a lot more scope for variation and a different experience.” - Kiri Masters
“There needs to be a balance between solving the homogenization issue and solving the problem of differentiation or distinction, and still being able to be intuitive, still being able to get your consumer to do the flow {from discory to checkout}.” - Roger Figeuiredo
“It's really tough to stand out but not stand out so far that you're doing something unintuitive.” - Ben Marks
“That discovery and awareness stage of the funnel is where there's a real opportunity to be different. And after that, you kind of want to bring it back to what's normal.” - Kiri Masters
Maybe visual design inspiration coming from some of the same places contributes to such boredom online because too many brands are overusing trends rather than being original
“You build your mood board, and you're going to go to other brands and you build your mood board off of other brands, and naturally is just going to lead to more of the same.” - Roger Figeuiredo
“When you're building your mood board for the look and feel, maybe don't go look at other brands. Look for analogies in design. Then build your mood board off of things that are maybe real life stuff instead of other websites.” - Roger Figeuiredo
“Don't do what your competitors, people in your category are doing, do things differently from the start. And you will be more likely to have a less boring, homogenized experience.” - Ben Marks
Has Shopify both helped and harmed the growth of eCommerce? Helped by democritizing, removing the barrier of entry, but also harmed by too many template based sites, and also flooding the market with more competitors

Guests

Kiri Masters, Head of Retail Marketplace Strategy at Acadia
Roger Figueiredo, VP of Marketing at #paid
Ben Marks, Director of Global Market Development at Shopware

Associated Links:

The Visions Report is a 100-page report with deep insights, created by Future Commerce.

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at [email protected] or any of our social channels; we love hearing from our listeners.

Next Episode

The Celebration of Insincerity

Has the push for engagement over enlightenment led to a rise of insincerity from brands and the way they interact with the public? Should brands comment on controversial topics such as politics and how can they do so authentically without perpetuating this celebration of insincerity we see among us? This is a conversation that needs to be had because it affects all of us. Listen now!

Show Notes

“Brands need a point of view. And the question to me is more how it gets communicated and where it gets communicated. But I think if a brand is participating in a capitalist society, which by virtue of being in America it is, it should be transparent enough to have a point of view.” - Grace Clarke
“By virtue of understanding the opposite of something, I started to really understand what the problem was or what the conversation was. I think there's definitely a fine line between insincerity, malicious intentional insincerity, and then satire. Because satire isn't insincere, it's actually extremely earnest in its attempt to prove a point.” - Grace Clarke
“Overhype is a form of insincerity.” - Brian Lange
“You then maybe cross the line when you're trying to manufacture something artificial.” - Miya Knights
“There are elements of a meme bringing people together and then something genuine in the world that is sincere and beneficial can come out of it.” - Grace Clarke
“Is it important that brands are transparent or is some element of insincerity actually protective for the business to grow in the long term?” - Grace Clarke
“It is very easy to lose sight of who you are as a brand. And that's really important in teaching customers how to talk about you, not just because consistency is important for consistency's sake, but if companies are missing the chance to reroute themselves and their brand.” - Grace Clarke
“In the past, before technology democratized the transactional experience all the power was with the brand, "I'll build it. You'll come. You're going to bust down my door and queue for hours for Black Friday," that kind of thing. And now I think consumers are voting with their dollars and they're voting with their feet. And so in terms of following that customer, the dynamics changed, flipped, where I feel the consumer is more in control.” - Miya Knights
“Different groups are demanding different messaging from me or demanding different things from me, I'm only going to stretch myself for the best customers because that's where the money is.” - Miya Knights

Guests

Miya Knights, author and retail analyst
Grace Clarke, brand and omnichannel strategist

Associated Links:

The Visions Report is a 100-page report with deep insights, created by Future Commerce.

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at [email protected] or any of our social channels; we love hearing from our listeners.