1-800-Flowers.com out for learning, not sales, in Second Life – for now
1-800.Flowers.com this summer became one of the latest major brands to set up shop in Second Life -- perhaps the most widely known of a number of graphically enhanced, 3-D, Internet-based virtual worlds. In these virtual worlds, visitors interact with each other and the environment using online stand-ins called avatars. But the retailer isn’t looking to traditional e-commerce metrics to measure the new store’s success, because at least for now it’s not selling merchandise, virtual or otherwise, in Second Life.
The company is looking for something else from 1-800-Flowers.com in Second Life: feedback, and another way to engage with its customers. That’s a longstanding corporate strategy that led the company in the past to become an early user of toll-free phone numbers and the web itself. “As a company we look for all possible ways to get into a stronger relationship with our customer base by getting into a dialogue with them. Second Life provides with a great way to do that,” president Chris McCann tells Internet Retailer.
McCann adds that Second Life’s virtual world environment lends itself particularly to gathering consumer feedback, as the opportunity to interact with others there – the social aspect – is one big reason visitors go to Second Life, which is owned and operated by Linden Research Inc. As a result, he says “People are much more open to giving feedback, where in other forums you have to go out and solicit them for it.”
Through their avatars, June visitors to 1-800-Flowers.com in Second Life could design a virtual bouquet, collect a free virtual bouquet, interact with other store visitors and communicate with “on staff” avatars representing 1-800-Flowers.com. Visitors to a dedicated page on 1-800-Flowers.com’s flagship e-commerce site could view and comment on snapshots from the Second Life installation as well. McCann sees the compilation of feedback from the Second Life community as a critical first step in pursuing any other opportunities that may follow in the virtual environment.
“We are learning about this community and trying to figure out how our brand fits into it, as opposed to trying to pre-suppose and jam an offline commerce model into that world,” he says.
Visitors to 1-800-Flowers.com in Second Life can link from Second Life to the dedicated page on 1-800-Flowers.com’s regular web site, though there are no links from Second Life directly to products on 1-800-Flowers.com. McCann is intrigued with the idea that some day Second Life visitors might create bouquets in the virtual world and then link to the e-commerce site to order the bouquets they’ve designed in real flowers. But he says that at present the fulfillment requirements are just too daunting.
While there could be virtual commerce capabilities for the retailer on Second Life in the future, McCann adds, “We recognize that this is not just a place to jump into so we can sell more flowers and gifts there. It’s a different environment and an emerging world.”
For now, 1-800-Flowers.com, which is No. 34 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, is watching measures such as the number of visitors that enter the Second Life store and the number that interact with the avatars there. While McCann didn’t disclose those numbers, he says the company is pleased with them. “Success for us here would be if after several months we feel that we have some learnings,” he says. “That’s the first level of success.”
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