So, first a BIG, BIG disclaimer.
I DON’T COLOR MY HAIR. [ ] . That is a BIG FULL STOP.
I have black hair, that’s greying naturally. And I intend to enjoy it that way.
Now, to the point of this post.
I searched for ‘Garnier Men Hair Colour Shades’ just for keeda and got this search page result:
OK, now here are the results of each of the pages that I clicked on one after the other:
SITE 1
SITE 2
SITE 3
SITE 4
OK, So WHAT IS GOING on here?
– It’s simple!!
GOOGLE is making SOME SERIOUS SERIOUS e-Commerce Money here!!
The way I look at it:
– No matter what my brand may be or the loyalty that I may have to any e-commerce site, I AM going to go to Google, each time I think of buying something. That’s the way human brains are wired now after 2000.
– So, when I get the search results and I click and visit each of these illustrious sites, what’s the differentiation between Sites 1, 2, 3, 4 and the product and the price they are selling? ZERO. ZILCH. NADA.
(Note – I don’t get emotional over Rs 4)
– So, e-commerce site, you WANT MY RS 75???
Well, then you better be the FIRST on Google!!!
Now, assuming that the COST per click is Rs 7.50 for getting me there, then if the product is Rs 75, then the cost of traffic is 10 % of the GROSS PRICE OF THE PRODUCT???
So, Google’s INDIRECT e-Commerce commission will be 10% (in this case) per sale?!
WOW!!!
– So dear God ji… what happens when the Cost of being No. 1 on the paid search result slowly starts going UP (read up how google broke the back of e-commerce sites in the USA who were selling diamond jewelry)…?
– ohhh….noooo. and what about the poor e-commerce sites on page 2, 3, 4 ………..?
Unka Number Kab Aayegaa, mummy??
Okay… back to being serious:
I am thinking – Isn’t GOOGLE THE MASTER e-Commerce Site of them, after all?
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Sanchita Dutta
ppl like google make money for the wondeful algorithm they have written for search engines as also in decimating what ever competition that was left incl likes of bing, yahoo, altavista(remember it fondly!)
Point is trust me, there is seriously money to be made over there also. your calculation is too simplistic. first once ur website is ranking high, u r referred more often whether ur paying or not. so dont look at investments in google so simplistically.
also naive would be to start counting profits fm day 1. have a solid plan. stick to it. spend money judiciously. bargain hard. sell harder.
Yes, there are issues with businesses. it is possible that all of them may not make money. but many will. as regards who will buy hair colour, i sell mobile scratchguard for 62 rupees including shipping cost whose MRP is 299/- and make a profit of 10% on ebay with my payment realised within 3 days of shipping. if shipping is av 30/- u can derive the cost to me!!
remember the thing i was telling u bout eyes pooping out … wonder why those sales person are sweet as saccharine in those over conditioned malls!!
Sanchita Dutta
i wished to write.. but hoped for a backlink to my own blog http://www.gizmobhai.com at least in the beginning or at the end. Feel like Chetan Bhagat here. At least hope that my name will be taken at least at one place in the entire movie called “The Robinhoods” !!!:)
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Sachita,
I am confused.
Do u see rules and regulations on therodinhoods.wpengine.com?
Except porn and hatred WE tolerate everything!
Write a post that has your url all over for all we care!
People here come to read content. Make that happen!!
And Never WISH. DO.
Dr Saurabh Bhatia
As it turns out, Google is becoming the that pair of spectacles thru which internet users see the world.
Coloring it green if you want your business to be seen is a natural follow up.
What is disturbing is 1. No one is able to create a genuine Google rival 2. People are not understanding how google can (unfairly) affect their judgment.
Reminds me of Richard Bach’s “Illusions” where the reluctant messiah withdraws from humans because all they want is for him to do miracles for them. They don’t wish to do it themselves. As long as humans will remain infected with this attitude, of looking for a sole saviour (pun), they will continue to get hood-winked 😉
Pratik Poddar
Alok,
When we met in one of the rodinhood gatherings, I made this point to a few people that a lot of money has to be made in referring in e-commerce. In some sense, more value is lying there in referring than in e-commerce companies. At the end of the day, there is not a lot of differentiation in the prices and the service of e-commerce companies. So, they will fight for market share without any differentiation. In such a market, quality aggregators would be valued more than the e-commerce companies. Hence, we made Clipr – https://clipr.in about which we presented at Rodinhood Meetup and posted https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/clipr-discover-clip-win-perseverance-pays
Aneja Raj
While I cannot disagree with your post all readers must keep a few things in mind 1) Google does not set the price. Market sets the price. If the CPC is high,its the market that raised it, not Google. So if the top bidder is willing to pay a high price, it must be profitable for him. If not the Market will drive the price down. 2) Google only uses 30% of its space to sell paid ads, the remaining is for organic results. Its free for the user – Google does not make any money. If your site works hard, you can be on Page 1 for absolutely free. You just need to work hard to get there.
Google is one of the most ethical companies. They have generally been clean on how they conduct business. Having said that, the recent platform upgrade (Google Enhanced) has raised a few eyebrows about their intentions.
Read my Rodinhood post at the following link. Details about the platform upgrade is widely available on the net, but the level of analysis I put together is exclusive to Rodinhooders. https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/why-this-smart-move-from-google-will-reshape-digital-advertising
Aneja Raj
One additional comment on the blog / forum template. It would be great to have the most comment post appear first rather than last. Just my two cents.