In order to make holiday shopping less of a strain for the average person, eBay launched what it's calling a "social gift concierge" to provide personalized suggestions when online shopping. eBay recruited four experts that resolve gifting dilemmas in different categories. For instance, Alice tackles family-friendly gift suggestions, while Steve is an expert in Secret Santa gifts and deal-finding.
When feeling stuck or uninspired, Twitter users are able to use the #eBayElves tag to call for help from these four holiday experts.
While there have been many automated guides of this sort created for Christmas, it's refreshing to know that people can expect to get a helping hand from another human, rather than a bot.
Problem-Solving Holiday Campaigns
eBay's Gift Concierge Responds to Holiday Troubles on Twitter
Trend Themes
1. Social Gift Concierge - Opportunity for businesses to provide personalized suggestions to online shoppers by recruiting experts in different categories.
2. Humanized Customer Service - Opportunity for companies to offer personalized solutions to customers and make shopping experience less of a strain.
3. Collaborative Support Services - Opportunity to develop a collaborative service involving human experts to provide gifting dilemmas solutions.
Industry Implications
1. Retail - Opportunity for retailers to adopt social gift concierge, providing personalized guidance for online shoppers.
2. Customer Service - Opportunity for businesses to improve their customer service by offering humanized support services.
3. Social Media - Opportunity for social networking sites to develop collaborative support services that connect customers with human experts.