Please build these Web apps

On Thursday, I put out a call for new Web 2.0 application ideas, telling readers the two best (according to me) concepts would win the two complete Web 2.0 Expo passes I have to give away. And the results are in.

First, I have to say that several of the good ideas have already been done. There are already aggregation services, like PageOnce, that roll up data from personal sites such as banks and social networks. There's an app, OopsImLate, that works with your GPS-equipped smartphone to tell people you won't possibly be able to make your meeting on time. And the commenter who wants a service to give them analytics on their e-mail behavior should check out Xobni.

But there were also some ideas I really liked that I haven't seen done yet. These are the two conference pass winners:

Wbl8w writes, "I would like a Web service that works with mobile phones that will map my way through large stores I visit regularly." My day was nearly ruined trying to navigate Costco last weekend (Lesson: cart traffic goes one way only; don't try to shop counter-flow), and I've had awful, frustrating experiences at Home Depots, so I can relate. GPS won't work inside stores nor at the precision necessary to locate a particular product, so I'd settle for paper store maps that point me to the products I'm looking for.

This would also require the service be tapped into store inventory systems, which is no small feat. But it would be a monetizable business to sell such a service to the stores themselves, to increase customer satisfaction, and perhaps do cross-marketing to other items in the store.

HaroldMann submitted: "File detachments--service receives all your mail, strips all the attachments and replaces them with links." This is brilliant, especially when e-mail threads get long and broad (lots of replies among lots of people), and each message has attached to it the original multi-megabyte PowerPoint that kicked off the thread. By replacing the attachment with a link to the file stored on a Web-accessible server somewhere (presumably with password-controlled access), you cut down dramatically on storage and bandwidth. Storage is, sadly, still an issue for people using corporate e-mail systems, like Exchange.

There is a new app that does some of this, cc:Betty, but it does not have the "detach" feature.

HaroldMann is right that IT managers would love this feature, and I bet they could find budget to pay for it, too. (Mann is co-founder of ClickTime.)

Wbl8w and HaroldMann win the two full conference passes to Web 2.0 Expo. You can see the rest of the submitted ideas here. For a discounted (not free, sorry) ticket to the event, use the code websf09btd45 on the registration site.

[rapier1]

The only problem with the first app is that you probably won't get buy in from the stores in question. Their goal is to get you through as much of the store as possible to expose to as much of their inventory as they can. If a customer only sees what they are most interested in the stores loses the chance to make more money on impulse or unintended purchases. While such a system may increase customer satisfaction to some degree you would be hard pressed to demonstrate that this translates into increased sales.

[rafe]

But you could use the map to proactively market related products. That's why I like it so much. For example, if my map is pointing me to the obscure finishing nails I need for a project at the Home Depot, it could also have a coupon for hammers. Bam! Upsell!

[rapier1]

Its a possibility but you'd have to show that the potential upsell outweighs the potential loss from serendipitous product encounters. This concept is entrenched the retail world - its why products like bread and milk are the furthest things from the doors of most grocery stores. Its why lightbulbs and cheap seasonals are at the entrance of most Home Depots. You also shouldn't discount the costs associated with a mapping project like this. Most big box stores have unique layouts, product positions change with some frequency, planograms tend not be shared between distributors and so forth. I'm not saying this wouldn't be a useful app but the costs behind it are significant.

[romodoc]

rapier1,
"the potential upsell outweighs the potential loss from serendipitous product encounters"
I don't think that's the case. I agree with rafe targeted publicity is much more effective than random bombarding publicity. You are far more likely to miss a product that can actually buy if is buried between hundreds in the shelves, however 3 to 5 products related to your current purchase plus a coupon is far more likely to end up in an actual purchase. This is the reason google is making googols of dollars.
plus you will end up spending more time in the "good" sections of the store and less time in the "bad" ones. for example, when I go to walmart I've passed hundreds of times trough the ladies underwear section and still haven't bought anything there (the "bad" section) because i am trying to find the good section (electronics or hardware etc). some one else may have the exact opposite classification of the store sections that's why this sounds like a good idea. (ladies please go somewhere else for underwear)

[Dalkorian]

by rapier1 March 24, 2009 3:05 PM PDT
Most big box stores have unique layouts, product positions change with some frequency, planograms tend not be shared between distributors and so forth.

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This here is the nail in the coffin of this idea. It's one thing to map the layout of a store, it's another to convince the store manager that the layout shouldn't be changed on a whim. And that's only one store - try it for all of them.

Neat idea, but it can't ever work.

[sparksnark]

by Dalkorian March 25, 2009 10:16 AM PDT
This here is the nail in the coffin of this idea. It's one thing to map the layout of a store, it's another to convince the store manager that the layout shouldn't be changed on a whim. And that's only one store - try it for all of them.

Neat idea, but it can't ever work.
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What a good reason to make it work. This service would need to bypass upfront investment or transparency commitments from the company as well as any ongoing work from the store manager. So, make the data consumers also the data providers. Want the benefits of the service? Agree to passive data collection. The service could map store layouts by aggregating real customer paths (gyroscope + time) and map inventory from shelf contents (barcodes, RFID) as customers walk through the store -- they're often in plain view. I don't know if this can be done with existing mobiles or if it means new hardware.

Once this is happening at scale, the customer spends less time wandering around, the service has high value information to sell the store and the store gets fresh, highly-targeted interest information about a likely customer already in their store. Win-win-win and it gets more compelling when more people use it.

[wormdood]

The Pre is supposed to have a built in feature like OopsImLate.

[rafe]

Yeah, and I saw something similar when I was experimenting with the Blackberry Storm.

[fkamru]

Hi - where can we see the other submissions. Thanks.

[Steve_Ernstberger]

How about a web app or other app that visually gives you phone trees. For example:
I call the stupid cable company and it says press 1 for English. Then, press 1 for new service or 2 for existing service. And then about 7 more prompts before I talk to someone.
Instead, have something that you select the company that you want to call, the phone tree options show up as buttons on your screen and you just go through and select the correct options. Once you've hit all that's needed it tells you to put the phone up to your ear and you have a person on the other end waiting for you (or you get put on hold for 30 minutes).
And maybe you can play a game while you're on hold. Who knows!?

[Josh.Lowensohn]

This has been made! It's called Fonolo (www.Fonolo.com) and it can even be set up to call your phone and connect you to that specific part of the phone menu.

Here's our take on it: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9990929-2.html

[Brendan_G]

I would think that a store could simply set up public wi-fi access and use router settings to direct/restrict all connections to a specially designed mobile map/promotions page with built-in item search. Ever since I picked up the "Shopper" app for my iPod touch I've thought it would be great if grocery stores would have a sync-up app that would appear whenever I was in range of that store's wi-fi. It could direct me to the items on my list, give me electronic versions of coupons for the items on my list, and suggest promotional items based on my frequent buyer card account's list of past purchase habits.

[mcbetty]

Rafe, Michael Cerda of Cc:Betty here. What you (HaroldMann rather) refers to, we do, IF the conversation continues from within the Mailspace. It's perhaps suboptimal, but rather than doing a cc to Betty, you mailto: [e-mail] whatever files you want. Then from within the Betty created Mailspace result, you FORWARD to any others than you want to "invite". We'll make some of this easier in the future..