Location based social commerce will be the most interesting segment globally.
It definitely feels like there is a breakdown of the local community today. With the rise of digital connection, mobile app, social media platforms, and global eCommerce platforms that enable us to do business with people halfway around the world, we are forgetting about the local communities that are right here with us. We disappear into our tablets and phones, working into a “me generation” that places special emphasis on personal gain and independent satisfaction.
Community gathering such as these is getting rarer, in some area its non-existent. Whatsapp/Wechat/Telegram groups are not the solution to connect people at a community level.
The market needs a proper platform for people to connect with their local community, able to look back into the community history past events and photos. Allow members of the community to engage in word of mouth marketing, which is the best form of organic marketing for hyperlocal businesses.
This is why location based social commerce will be the most interesting segment globally.
“If you can target a specific community liked we lived near each other, we are neighbours we are probably buying the same things, we probably want the same products.” -Anna Fung
Anna Fang, chief executive officer of ZhenFund, one of the most influential angel investors in China, talks about the opportunities she sees in the country’s technology companies. She speaks with Tom Mackenzie on “Bloomberg Markets: Asia.” (Source: Bloomberg)
I think she is absolutely right, the unicorn emerging from this segment will be massive.
The next Geo-Social Commerce Network must allow people to communicate with their local community yet keeping their Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Wechat and contact number private. The closer we are in the real physical world, the more privacy we need, that’s just human nature.
Quality and trust level within such network on discussions and reviews about everything we need or want will be very high. Bundling that with one touch purchase to access all these needs and wants? The network will own a majority of the hyperlocal business transactions not mentioning the AD revenue from a very geolocated target pool of users.
I believe in the future, geo-social networks, e-commerce, hyperlocal businesses will all roll up into one and form the basis of how we socialise locally and do commerce.
Adding blockchain to build a micro-economy for all these geo-social communities will make it even more interesting.
