Blippy.com: Sharing What You're Buying

I definitely think consumers are willing to share information and opinions about their purchases, but not using Blippy. As far as I can tell, Blippy does nothing more that list your purchase with no ability to explain, comment, or review. Just because I buy a dress for my daughter does not mean I like dresses nor would I listen to some of the music I buy my son.

David Dorf, Sr. Director of Technology Strategy, Oracle Retail

This is certainly a generational thing! Young people today are sharing EVERYTHING and feel something of a social responsibility to do so. A marketing person's dream come true.

Susan Rider, President, Rider and Associates, LLC

If you can't really comment on the product, what's the point? Consumers turn to the internet for detailed opinions and reviews on products they want to buy. Blippy sounds like a glorified Twitter service with no real information behind the actual use of the product.

Doron Levy, President, TheMortgageMachine.ca

In the world of social media and electronic communication, privacy is dead. If you write it, tweet it, blog it or email it, your words are available, theoretically, forever. Into this world comes Blippy. To some it will seem to be the ultimate invasion of privacy. To others it will be a natural extension of their electronic life. Consumers will tell us how valuable Blippy is through their adaptation and use of it.

Max Goldberg, Founding Partner, The Radical Clarity Group

I agree with Susan. If you look at Blippy though a Boomer lens, it won't make sense but Gen Y is accustomed to sharing just about everything--sometimes too much, as employment recruiters are finding out.

The degree to which Blippy'esque programs catch on as a trend will remain to be seen.

One thing is for sure; privacy will soon be a nostalgic notion for those old enough to remember what it was.

Doug Stephens, President, Retail Prophet

A recent study by Nielsen showed that 90% of Social Media users trust peer recommendations. Only 14% trust traditional advertising. These kinds of forums to gather new trends and experiences are sure to continue to grow as traditional advertising continues to decline.

Bill Emerson, President, Emerson Advisors

Technically, anyone can (and does) share purchase information through Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. With Guy Kawasaki, various Kardashians and other "influencers" getting paid for every brand-mentioning tweet, Blippy would seem to be inherently prone to corruption ("Wow, look! He actually BOUGHT it!"...or did he get reimbursed?).

I agree with the previous comments regarding generational differences as well. "Share your favorite purchases from any credit card" greets you the minute you pull up the site. Garlic and wolfsbane to anyone over 30!

Carol Spieckerman, President, newmarketbuilders

I keep referencing the "Paradox of Choice" by Barry Schwartz. At some point it is too much.

Mark Johnson, President and CEO, Loyalty 360

Blippy should be nothing more than a subset of another social site. How many different places must one deal with to get all the info they want to send or receive? If the Blippy service has value, Facebook, et al can and will implement the same info. In many categories they already do.

Social networking is a new industry and fragmentation is a natural development. However, following fragmentation will be consolidation. This industry is already in the hands of the big guys.

Gene Detroyer, Entrepreneur, Advisor, Consultant, Professor, Independent

I agree with Doug and Susan on the generational divide over use of such SME tools, but I also feel it's a great way to "have your voice heard" as a consumer. It's the ultimate in "voting with your wallet" for both product and channel. Sooner or later, the boomers will catch on to the value.

Larry Allen, Director of Business Development, Info Retail

A big differentiator between Blippy and other social media tools (Twitter, Foursquare) is control. The user is in control of their Tweets (outside of auto-DMs) and you've got to consciously check in somewhere with Foursquare.

Now, either of those activities could land you in http://pleaserobme.com/ if you are not careful of what you post and the inevitable is that a site such as "pleasestealmyidentity" will arise as the yang to Blippy's yin.

Visiting the site, I cannot see the value add beyond what is already available via Twitter or even Facebook. If one feels passionate about renting "The Hurt Locker" after last night's Oscars, go ahead and post that on any site you wish.

Creating a streaming account posting from an individual online retailer or (danger, danger - I don't care what caveats are in place) from a credit card account may indeed be a step beyond the tolerance of even Gen Y for disclosing the minutia of our lives.

Let's see how long it lasts.

Bill Hanifin, Managing Director, Hanifin Loyalty LLC

I fail to understand how knowing what a few friends are buying is better or even as informative as knowing what the public in general is buying. I prefer the larger sample size and the multitude of reviews they provide online. Blippy will be a short-term blip on the social networking radar screen.

M. Jericho Banks PhD, President, CEO, Forensic Marketing LLC

Blippy is simply another way to "badge" in social media and likely a marginal one, at least in the medium- to long-term. There are already merchants integrating Twitter, Facebook and other social media feeds from their online stores and shopping carts so the ability to leverage purchasers' enthusiasm for advocacy is already there.

At a certain point those happily sharing (exposing) their data for nothing in return will realize its value and begin to reign in their free-sharing ways. At a minimum they will (smartly) begin to raise the bar in terms of their expectations of the quid pro quo for sharing said data.

Phil Rubin, CEO, rDialogue

The concepts of peer review and social shopping are solid and I expect it to grow substantially. However, like a lot of social media, its value can be severely diluted with mass communities that generate more information than can be turned into real value. This is an early foray, with lots of room for more innovation.

Paul R. Schottmiller, Senior Director, Global Retail and Consumer Products, Cisco Systems, Inc.

I often think, when hearing about sites such as this, why don't retailers have a space, right inside the front door, for shoppers to input what they just bought, or what they are looking for, while learning from customers how they answered their own product needs? It could give entering customers new options if the desired product is out of stock, or even upgrades that should be considered. I know there are privacy issues and trust of accuracy that have to be guarded but let's just think about the positive aspects of putting an online tool in the store.

Jerry Gelsomino, Principal, FutureBest