MySpace users like to shop
Here's another online embarrassment for Microsoft: MySpace now sends more people to online retailers than MSN, according to HitWise numbers cited by TechCrunch. TechCrunch's Marshall Kirkpatrick notes that the numbers offer proof that users of social-networking sites aren't just there to gab -- they like to shop, too.
It's not like Microsoft is a newbie to e-commerce. The company entered the field 10 years ago with its acquisition of eShop, a provider of software to build online storefronts. And back in April, it launched Windows Live Shopping, a new shopping search engine with a slick interface. Despite that, Microsoft's virtual mall just hasn't become a teen hangout. Where the teen traffic goes, their dollars follow. Microsoft is trying to diversify. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that IF it's done in an orderly fashion and closely tied in with your existing business model.
Microsoft may have been "first on the scene", but people simply view Microsoft as the developer of Windows, and often an "evil" corporation (remember, 90% of people believe Bill Gate's "stole" Windows). Would you go shopping at Nintendo's e-commerce marketplace? Probably not. You might trust Nintendo as a game system developer, but probably not as an e-commerce solution. 
CNNMoney.com Comment Policy: CNNMoney.com encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNNMoney.com makes reasonable efforts to review all comments prior to posting and CNNMoney.com may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNNMoney.com the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNNMoney.com Privacy Statement.
|
|
| 
