JP, thanks for the link, here are p.20-22
ttp://kpi.at/ieb/eb2/eb2_karpischek_mobile_prosumer_20061109_final.doc
"The Mobile Prosumer - Product information at the Point of Sale".
Mobile bandwidth costs
Accessing internet services from mobile phones in Europe is still regarded as being extremely expensive. This is likely to change with WAP, GPRS and UMTS flat rates. Due to the high competition on the saturated mobile phone provider market [brandeins 10/2006] we expect a fast development of these products and to have mobile phone bandwidth for little or no money soon.
Lack of evaluation of consumer needs
User requirements derive from motivation studies
We don't know yet at what point in the shopping process consumers look for product information and what kind of information consumers really need at the Point of Sale. Our assumption is that internet users search for product information before buying. In particular with more expensive products or products needed to be tried on or out physically (e.g. clothing, consumer electronics), it is also likely that consumers tend to switch between looking at the product in the store and searching for more information or the best offer on the web several times. More research is needed here. We expect to conduct an according evaluation in the first quarter of 2007.
Consumer feedback
We are very interested in developing a system for market research and customer analysis, by providing the matching results of consumer preferences with products in the store to producers and retailers. This could be an interesting innovation to Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Similar ideas have already been suggested and need further research.
1.1 Further steps
· Evaluation of consumer information needs (together with Florian Resatsch at the IEB)
· Client side programming
· Integration of barcode recognition (BaToo)
· Mobile Interface design (MG3 at IEB)
· Development of a detailed Business plan (BL3 at IEB)
· Lobbying for a EPCglobal membership of the IEB
· Integration with EPC Network (e.g. with Accada)
· More Content Providers
2 Conclusions and suggestions
We see the most relevant Business Case in developing a service for automated aggregation and structuring of so far distributed and unstructured content for a product information service.
Content providers do not yet offer structured information with standardised interfaces, although concepts like ONS, PML and EPCIS exist for some time. Still, there seems to be a great uncertainty and confusion about which concepts to adopt and how.
As an intermediary solution and for fast prototyping, we propose to build an application to integrate existing different proprietary product identifier schemes under the standard product identifier: EAN. We further aim at restructuring so far poorly structured content (HTML) in a standardised way and integrate it in an EPC Network infrastructure.
Personalisation and user profiles generate additional value for users and allow collaborative filtering and recommendation services. Revenue models could include commission fees for transactions between users and online shops.
We suggest to focus on consumer mobile phones as the device to develop this application for. They are widely distributed and very likely to integrate technology for easy identification of products in the near future (barcode recognition, NFC). The very personal and private nature of the mobile phone gives the user the feeling of complete control over the information flow. Costs of mobile bandwidth will go down fast enough.
The time span to act and enter the market is limited as most of the underlying concepts are known for years now. The well-known product information provider does not exist yet, but is very likely to come up soon. Only early entrants in this market will be able to reach the necessary critical mass for making use of the awaited strong net effects. It is necessary to create a highly interrelated and productive user community by using invitation schemes and rich gratification for content generation (e.g. ratings, product recommendations and social relations). The Mobile Prosumer is to become the ultimate source for product information: Trusted, reliable, accurate!
