Some thoughtful comments are being shared right on the bottom of The Scan’s first question, on the human dimensions of commerce. We wanted to bring them to the front and to your attention.

Commerce can get more smarter and personalized and human . Recently i tweeted about lack of integration of Customer / Consumer voice, email, social media  data .It presents a big opportunity to services firms and analytics firms to integrate, collate, organize and analyze the data to identify new patterns and trends  and offer personalized  , more humane services to individuals. Companies which attempt to manage to do that successfully will distinct themselves in the market and be able to create an aesthetic experience for customers in times to come leading to win win outcomes for companies and  stakeholders ( shareholders) :-)

Most online commerce can be completed without ever engaing with another human being, however, when you do engage with another human being, they should do more listening to understand instead of defending why their system is not working, or that someone is on vacation, or how their process works.  I really don’t care.  I want to complete my transaction, and the relationship I want is of service and support.  Do more listening for understanding; resolve my issues.

Very much agree with Laura’s post… most commerce can be completed today without human involvement… increasingly human involvement actually slows transactions.  However… a person should always be “‘at hand” to respond to issues, questions, comments, concerns that users / prospective buyers have at any point during the transaction.  It is also critical that information from all touchpoints… whether automated or personal get captured, stored, integrated and leveraged.  It is the information captured throughout selling, buying, servicing that increasingly enables more personalized and personal relationships

The Social Commerce Scan Team