Andy McGraw on Joining the Ecommerce Revolution

Over the last ten years we have witnessed stunning progress in ecommerce. Now, we are party to a revolution in the way buyers and sellers engage. And that engagement, for the first time, promises to be meaningful and absolutely relevant. For several years industry buzz has focused on convergence – of business and personal choice, consumer and SMB and enterprise. The tipping point is upon us with ever-increasing bandwidth, big data, analytics and smartphone proliferation. The dawning of this reality is why I am so jazzed to have joined Team Deem.

What do I mean by convergence?  We all wear many hats – business person, volunteer, consumer – and want to be acknowledged as people with individual needs. Why have “profiles” that denote our preferences with various suppliers and merchants when we end up getting lumped together in mass generic offerings? Merchants desire effective communication with the right buyers to drive new revenues, and buyers want to be connected with sellers that offer the product or service that is relevant to them as individual consumers. This is the convergence revolution being powered by Rearden Commerce’s Deem platform.

Because Rearden is best known for its travel platform, I’ll illustrate the need for relevance, convenience and convergence in online travel booking. When the ash cloud crisis hit Europe (I was there at the time), travelers found themselves stranded, with landlines unavailable, and no real way to obtain information, find a hotel or restaurant or complete the re-booking process. This was a very specific point of need for those travelers, many of whom needed support both as a consumer and as a business traveler. Ideally, in that situation, the business traveler would receive via mobile device flight status info, a rebooked flight or the ability to change/cancel, and a hotel and restaurant suggestion that is contextual and relevant — all while ensuring that traveler’s company understands where the traveler is located and the associated expenses. It’s this type of need that Deem is working to resolve.

Travelers are demanding more control over their travel environment and have been asking for more efficiency in the process. Let’s face it: business travel today is sometimes … just not that enjoyable. Anything companies can do to improve the experience for their employees should be high on the list of priorities. But companies must be able to offer this while maintaining control over the T&E category.

Deem will now make available all the necessary travel related categories along with an offers and procurement platform that will link the buyers and sellers who actually need and want to connect. No longer will it be acceptable to send a mobile offer to a traveler for an amazing steak house – when that traveler is a vegan. Tofu anyone? Deem harnesses the power to do precisely this: link buyers and sellers with absolute relevance. Now that is targeted marketing: location, context, relevance and real-time.

Add to this the ability to effectively connect relevant buyers and sellers to conduct commerce real-time, on the fly through mobile devices with relevant offers, and we are approaching ecommerce being perfected.

As I settle into this new seat at Rearden, I am very eager to hear what you think will contribute to the next revolution in travel services and in ecommerce overall.  What do you need, what do you want, what are the examples of innovation that will spur true revolution? For sure, the train has left the station and each one of us is on board. Although our individual seat assignment gives us each a different vantage point, the one thing we all need to do is hold on tight … this is going to be quite a ride!