New Service: On Demand Product Information 411

Concept:
A telephone, IM and/or SMS service that allows users to contact a specialist who can provide product information, pricing, comparisons, and reviews. Types of products could include consumer electronics, automobiles, appliances, or almost anything.

Market:
Shoppers who may be considering a purchase but want additional information to make an educated decision, want to confirm the claims of a salesperson, or who may be in an impulse buy situation and want to feel confident about their choice.

Design:
Service would use a single name or number to provide access through any medium. Process might go something like this:

1. Customer contacts the service and is paired with a specialist
2. Customer provides product name or serial number and specifies the nature of the request, which may include confirmation on competitive pricing, comparison to other, similar products, a summary of user reviews or just product specifications.
3. The specialist may consult the manufacturer’s website, or any number of publicly-accessible product review sites such as CNET, Tom’s Hardware or Ars Technica.
   
4. The specialist may provide info during the original call, or may opt to call the user back in 5-15 minutes once all necessary information can be gathered and synthesized by the specialist.
   
5. If it’s a callback scenario, the specialist will reconnect with the user and provide a report based on her/her own analysis of the available information.
6. The user can then make an educated and confident purchase decision.
   

Open issues:

1. How do we charge? Bundle it with a mobile plan, charge per call, or offer an annual subscription?
2. What legal issues and disclaimers must be considered to absolve the service of liability if something goes wrong with the recommended product (lemons, manufacturer defects, etc.)?
3. Any legal issues with using information from CNET et al to inform a recommendation that is then ‘sold’ to an end user?

jf