Monday, February 21, 2011

Spam me not...


Not quite the typical "buy t@bl3ts to mAk3 y0uR p3n1s L@rge & h@rd" emails, but worse in a way since my email filters don't detect these as spam. I have found over the last few months that if I:
·         complete a ‘contact us’ web form on a South African website
·         email a company to get information on a product or service that they offer
·         purchase an item over the internet

it seems to be taken as an indication that I would absolutely love to be added to that company’s mailing (spam) list. This usually happens with smaller companies who either have no idea of the contents of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act or they really just don’t give a crap.

I bought an electronic item from a company last year (I won’t name and shame quite yet). From that point on I received weekly emails (not a weekly email, but weekly emails) advertising their sale items for that week. I tolerated this for a couple weeks until my 3rd email punting toner cartridges and then I decided to unsubscribe. I looked for the unsubscribe link, usually found at the bottom of such emails. No such luck. So I replied to the mail, and the next three, requesting that they unsubscribe me. After the fourth email I replied, literally begging, that they stop emailing me. It stopped. For a month. Then restarted again.

A similar incident occurred recently. I wanted some furniture restored, and thus contacted a few furniture restoration businesses via the internet. For my trouble, I now get newsletters filled with antiques and what can be done to them. No unsubscribe option.

Even more recently, a site with which I registered to buy an item has been pestering me (daily) for my personal details. Literally. I get an email every single day with the subject, “Please update your details, we don’t know where you live”. Seriously, that is disturbing. But at least they did give me an unsubscribe option.

If you run / work for a company that is a culprit of this, please take note of the following (taken from the aforementioned Act):

45.(1) Any person who sends unsolicited commercial communications to consumers, must provide the consumer
(a) with the option to cancel his or her subscription to the mailing list of that person
(3) Any person who fails to comply with or contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction, to the penalties prescribed in section 89(1).
(4) Any person who sends unsolicited commercial communications to a person who has advised the sender that such communications are unwelcome, is guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction, to the penalties prescribed in section 89(1).


Now, before I get accused of not reading agreements, Ts&Cs and other small print, please note that I almost always read all the small print. I take note of what I am signing up for and always opt out of receiving much of the offered communications. I even untick those very cleverly pre-ticked ‘email me’ boxes above the “I Agree” button.
So, small South African companies that have a web page and an Outlook address book, please don’t pester your customers, or potential customers, or anyone who ever once sent you an email. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if that person didn’t SPECIFICALLY ask to be emailed by your company, don’t email that person.

Interesting links for Monday, 21/02/2011

Instead of trying to aggregate and discuss the many interesting items that I read each day, I thought it may be more useful to you and less time-consuming to me to just publish the better ones as a 'link post'.
Here with my first cop-out post...


Google Chrome Concept Would Kill the URL Bar
The world’s oldest water may be three kilometers below South Africa
Choose Your Own Adventure Series Reborn In Books and Apps
Most Tourists Take Pictures From the Same Spot
Solowheel - pint sized Segway

Friday, February 18, 2011

New ways of buying on the SA web


I have been amazed and impressed at the volume of web start-ups in South Africa that are modelled on established and well developed international internet businesses.
I am even more amazed at the positive reception and massive uptake with which the South African public have responded.
In specific, I am referring to three types of web-business: penny auction, coupon and limited-time deal sites.

Penny Auction
The pay-to-bid auction (penny auction) is a great business concept. The main premise for a consumer is that high-value items can be purchased at a fraction of their retail prices. An item is up for purchase under a relatively standard auction model with the following exceptions: there are standard (small) bid increments, and all bidders pay to bid.
An item on auction usually starts at R0.00 and each bid submitted increases the purchase amount by a set amount (usually between 1c and 5c). The auction timer (in place of the auctioneer’s “going, going, GONE!”) counts down, and once it reaches zero, the highest bidder wins the auction. Each bid placed increases the time left on the timer by a few seconds.
The average price for bid credits across the various sites is R5.00. One usually has to purchase a ‘bid pack’ consisting of at least 20 bid credits. It takes between 1 and 4 bid credits to place a bid in an auction – the amount of credits is usually dependent on the item’s value.
Here is an example to illustrate, taken from the Smokoo website:
An Apple iPod Touch (value R3,999.00) was up for auction. Bid increments were 5c, and each bid cost R5. The final selling prices was R251.10. “Zakwan” won the auction, using 106 bids (cost of R530.00). So his outlay was around R800, and he bought an item worth around R4k. He is very happy.
Smokoo is much happier. That selling price of R251.10 translates to 2,511 bids. At R5.00 a bid, Smokoo grossed R25,110.00 for this auction. That’s a profit of over R20k. And they didn’t actually pay R4k for the iPod; they got dealer price.


The best auction yet (for the sites themselves) is without a doubt the auction of bid packs. They technically come at zero cost but have a large perceived value to bidders. These bid pack auctions are well received and often bring in a large profit. My guess is that this is really where the money is at for the penny auction sites.

I have used Smokoo as my example as they are by far the most dominant penny auction presence in SA. They weren’t first however (I think that credit goes to Bidchaser), and they definitely aren’t the last.
These sites are popping up in many places, however not all are making the cut. Yourbid opened up in late 2010, and as of writing this still has a banner telling visitors that no auctions will occur over the festive season but will start mid January (they haven’t started).

Examples:

Coupon
Coupon sites encourage mass purchase of goods and services at a discounted rate. A special price is advertised on the site for a 3rd party company. Examples range from restaurant vouchers (pay R100 to get R400 of food) and spa discounts to holidays and self defence classes.
Usually, there is a certain purchase trigger where a minimum number of purchases are required to get the special price. This encourages users to market the coupon deal within their social networks and thus generate exposure and higher sales for the coupon site.
As far as I understand, the site itself gets half of sales, with the 3rd party provider getting the other half. The benefit to the 3rd party is obviously advertising and exposure to an extent that they would never be able to get via traditional advertising media at a similar price.

This model has been very successful overseas and there is already an interest in the South African sites from international buyers. The international coupon giant, Groupon, recently purchased the local coupon company, Twangoo. I assume that this is the plan for most of the companies launching these coupon sites; it’s the web entrepreneur’s dream: create site, generate interest, sell for millions.

Examples:




Limited Time
Lastly, the limited-time offer sites. These sites offer up a single item each day at a generally competitive price. However, one needs to move quickly as each deal lasts only 24 hours (and sometimes even have limited stock). The web benefit of theses sites is that they are often assured consistent repeat traffic, as users return to the site daily to see the ‘catch-of-the-day’.

Examples:

 
It really is about time that the companies in SA, a country with a huge web-access penetration, start making better use of the internet as an income driver. Hopefully instead of just seeing emulations of foreign ideas, we will start to see some innovation which can be exported.



Thursday, February 17, 2011

Facebook newsfeed - see more news

You may or may not have noticed that your Facebook newsfeed shows news from the same subset of your friends.
If you want, this can be changed to show everyone's activity. See steps below:
  
1. Click the down arrow next to "Most Recent" at the top right of your news feed. 

2. Select <Edit options>.

3. Click on the option "All of your friends and pages".

4. Click Save.

Secret Coke recipe revealed


A radio show (“This American Life”) in the US is claiming to have found the top-secret Coca-Cola formula.
They claim that the recipe was published in a 1979 newspaper article, which in turn found the recipe in the 1886 diary of the pharmacist, John Pemberton, who developed the flavouring unique to Coke.

Coke, of course, denies all. Their official word is that this may have been the precursor to the final recipe, but it isn’t the final recipe.

The recipe reads as follows:
·         Fluid extract of Coca: 3 drams USP
·         Citric acid: 3 oz
·         Caffeine: 1 oz
·         Sugar: 30 (unclear quantity)
·         Water: 2.5 gal
·         Lime juice: 2 pints, 1 quart
·         Vanilla: 1 oz
·         Caramel: 1.5 oz or more for colour
The secret 7X flavour (use 2 oz of flavour to 5 gals syrup):
·         Alcohol: 8 oz
·         Orange oil: 20 drops
·         Lemon oil: 30 drops
·         Nutmeg oil: 10 drops
·         Coriander: 5 drops
·         Neroli: 10 drops
·         Cinnamon: 10 drops

Also interesting to note is that the actual recipe is stored in a bank vault, and is rumoured to only be known to two Coke employees at any one time. These employees are allegedly forbidden to travel together (in case of a travel accident that may kill them simultaneously).

Another interesting theory is that the recipe isn’t really a secret at all. Rather, logistics and trade law make it impossible for anyone to reproduce the Coke taste. Firstly, nobody would actually be able to market the product as Coca-Cola (obviously). The brand power of Coke accounts for more sales than the taste of Coke and without the brand power an identical product will most likely experience poor sales. Secondly, at least in the States, it would be impossible to import the coca leaves essential for Coke production. Only one company (Stepan Co. in New Jersey) holds the correct licensing to do import the leaves and remove the cocaine from them. And that company only sells it’s final product to Coca Cola. So recipe or not, nobody else will be reproducing Coke easily.

Also worth a read is the following NY Times Freakonomics article, stating that Pepsi stealing Coke’s recipe would actually be detrimental to both companies: