Earlier this week I was in Las Vegas to attend and speak at the Shop.org Summit. While I was there I attended the "Web 2.0: Advanced Level" session. After some severe sound issues (think microphones cutting out and constant screechingly loud feedback) and my astonishment at how much wifi costs in the convention center,

 

Gian had some great stats about web 2.0 users:

• In August 2007, 158 million people (87% of the online population) visited web 2.0 sites
• Over a three month period, the entire online population engaged with web 2.0 sites
• The average time spent on a web 2.0 site was 210 minutes per person, and the average page views were 516 per session
  

The breakdown of web 2.0 traffic in August 2007 was as follows:

• directories = 121 million 
• video = 93 million
  
• social networks = 81 million
• photo = 56 million
  
• blogs = 48 million
  

E-commerce sites serve Flash content to more than 155 million consumers. Major retailers like Walmart, Target, Office Depot, Old Navy, Best Buy, and others serve Flash content on their sites. They use Flash in an array of ways, such as in pre-prints and on rotating offers on their home page.

Gian then broke into online spending for web 2.0 users by product category:

Heavy Internet users:

• were 50% of total users of web 2.0
• spend 58% of the total amount spent on the Internet
  

Blog users:

• 44% unique Internet visitors are users of blogs
• spend 56% of the total amount spent on the Internet
  

Video users:

• 67% unique Internet visitors are video users
• spend 79% of the total amount spent on the Internet
  

Social networks:

• 56% unique Internet visitors are social network users
• spend 59% of the total amount spent on the Internet
  

The percentage of users saying they'd be receptive to advertising on UGC sites skews heavier towards leisure products (e.g. music, movies, entertainment, consumer electronics) and lighter towards necessities (financial services, prescription meds, OTC medication, etc).

Gian's presentation was fascinating because of all the data he presented to us. One fact I thought was particularly interesting is that 20% of media consumption is on the Internet, yet only 5% of ad dollars have moved online. Talk about opportunity...

Doug Mack from Adobe talked about Rich Media. He also referenced the web 2.0 meme map and talked about how it emphasizes a rich user experience, allowing users to determine their own path rather than predetermine their behavior, the right to remix, and closing the gap on ecommerce being fun.

He said that future rich media themes include rich media meeting rich apps, increasing community empowerment, moving back to the desktop, and making content the interface. For a "rich media meets rich apps" example, he talked about Teamwork Athletic. On this site you can design a team uniform on a model and change the color, cut, logo, and even upload your own images to put on the jersey.

Doug touched a bit on moving back to the desktop. He said that combining the best of software + the best of the Internet can equal a new experience. You can provide a standard web experience to most of your audience but also a new experience to web 2.0 users. His example was an eBay fluid interface desktop application that was pretty neat. He did caution that desktop apps often require several months for site development.

The risk of going in these new directions is that customers can get lost, intimidated, and/or can't find their way. He stressed the notion of the content being the interface. If you let it be self-discoverable, you've succeeded. On the return side, think about rich media apps/experiences as realistic projects. Raise the bar on the investment and rethink the metaphor of how customers use your site. If you take the time to design it right, watch where your customers are getting lost and tweak your site accordingly, because it takes some time for your customers to learn the new things you put out.

Next, David Towers from Avenue A/Razorfish talked about Rich Applications. He defined rich applications as guiding selling tools and developing an experience for your shoppers that is outside the tradition/norm that gets them to shop how they want to shop. For example, he talked about selling an Espresso machine on your site and allowing your user to use the mouse, turn the knobs, have the steam come out, and otherwise play around with the product in ways you couldn't on other sites (or in actual stores, for that matter). He also mentioned creating an app that allows you to design a kitchen that looks just like yours so you can see how appliances and gadgets will look in your kitchen.

David urged the audience to think about how your consumer shops and then design around that thought process via better imagery, improved ways to cross-sell, and not thinking that site optimization replaces customer experience. He also recommended building apps that get the user away from the browser, which is a very targeted process. If you can get straight to the customer's desktop via gadgets and widgets, you've won big because the customer won't even have to open a browser in order to see you. Even if only 1% of your customers love you enough to add your app to their desktop, that's still 1%.

Lastly, Brian Sugar from Sugar Publishing talked about his Sugar Network. The Sugar Network is a collection of sites targeted to 18-35 year old women. Each site has a separate topic; for example, PopSugar focuses on celebrities and gossip, while FabSugar is devoted to fashion and shopping. TeamSugar, the social network that powers all the other sites, was launched in the spring. It contains profiles, groups, channels, blogs and polls, photos and video, and bookmarks that allow users to interact with each other and share stuff.

Though Brian's company was launched a little over a year ago, his site receives 5 million uniques/month. Last week they finally bought their first keyword and sent their first email. They didn't spend any money on advertising until now. In Brian's opinion, if you create a great product/content, people will respond to it. 

Although I felt like the uber-nerd in the audience (I was practically the only person typing my notes), I really enjoyed the session. The speakers were really knowledgeable and compelling, and they had great examples of web 2.0 in the retail sector.

After the sessions wrapped for the day, I headed to The Mix Lounge for a Hitwise-sponsored reception, where I basked in the sights and sounds of Sin City.