As RSS moves behind the scenes, you have to wonder why some markets still aren't using it.RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is on the cusp of the best kind of sea change for a technology acronym: It's about to become obsolete. No, RSS is not going anywhere. In fact, it's exploding, and because it's reaching such a high level of visibility and Internet and desktop integration, the term "RSS" will soon no longer be needed. This is a good thing, but with this realization came the awareness that an entire key market sector is ignoring the technology, and it's the one that could perhaps benefit the most.
Let me digress a bit to talk about why RSS is making this transition. First of all, it's everywhere. It's on your desktop in feed readers, browsers like Firefox, and now desktop search utilities like Google Desktop 2.0. Soon it'll be an integral part of your desktop thanks to Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista. We also find it in customizable homepages like MyYahoo!. And with each passing day, it becomes easier to add RSS feeds. You can choose them from simple lists in Yahoo!, and your feed readers and desktop search utilities will autodiscover available ones right off Web sites.
None of this would be so attractive if it weren't for the simple genius of the RSS idea: news and information where and when you want it. It's push technology that later pulls you in (if you want to go there) and just plain works. The integration is making it so easy for anyone to use that I expect Web sites to stop using the term RSS on sites and even to do away with the various "RSS" graphics. It will all work by autodiscovery and options to opt in to "notifications."
Most Web businesses are learning that RSS is more effective than the homepage at delivering the latest stories. It's even beginning to rival newsletters in effectiveness. This leads me to the market segment that appears to be missing the RSS bus.
The idea that online retailers are completely out of the loop came to me during a meeting with SimpleFeed. SimpleFeed helps marketers generate completely trackable RSS feeds out of press releases, marketing information, internal memos, and the like, with a fairly simple interface and the ability to integrate with most content-management systems that can speak XML. There are many other tools for generating feeds out of existing content, but SimpleFeed ostensibly raises the bar by making these links trackable, and therefore measurable. Now marketers whose lives revolve around measuring effectiveness can know if a feed they generated, which now lives on an end-user's RSS-supporting Web page or RSS reader, has been previewed (thanks to a trackable pixel) or followed through to its originating source.
It's a smart idea, and all I could think is how powerful this could be for the eBays, Amazons, BestBuy.coms, and Circuit Citys of the world. I have visited countless retail Web sites, walked through the purchase process, entered my e-mail address and then, almost without fail, opted out of the "Get More Information on Great Deals from Us" opt-in e-mail lists. It's what most people do. Who needs more e-mail from Target, Sears, Macy's, Amazon, or Best Buy? If I do opt in, I usually end up ignoring the messages anyway (a 3 percent click-through rate is what SimpleFeed reports).—Continue reading
The other day I visited Amazon, eBay, Target, and Circuit City's sites, searching for RSS feeds or at least hoping FeedDemon would autodiscover an RSS feed or two. What I got was zilch. Not one of them even mentions RSS on their homepages. And I couldn't find shopping feed aggregators anywhere either. This may be a byproduct of the fact that most feeds do not include advertisements, so retail product feeds are perhaps considered the antithesis of what RSS is all about. That's garbage, of course. The Internet's best technologies have always been used by retailers and commerce sites.
I've read reports that say retailers are starting to do this, but I do not see it, anywhere.
The benefits of creating RSS feeds, either individually or in aggregate form, could be enormous for these guys. People who subscribe would obviously be more likely to respond to special offers, especially if the retailers use some discretion and provide real deals and coupons. And with a technology like SimpleFeed in place, the response would be totally measurable and certainly justifiable.
It's too late for retailers to get on the RSS bandwagon for the 2005 buying season, but there's always 2006. I've got a word of caution for retailers and consumers, though: No one will be calling it "RSS Retail Feeds" by then. It'll simply be known as "Great Deals Delivered to Your Electronic Doorstep." Sounds good to me.
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