The Time is Now.

I’ve spent the last year and a half working with some of the largest brands and with a number of top creative agencies on eCommerce and eMarketing sites. Couple that with my agency background and I’ve got a lot to talk about when it comes to the state of brand presence on the internet.

I still strongly believe in defending the idea. I see the brands who use their sites to build relationships with their customers, who create unique reasons for their customers to badge themselves with their brands and their products, who celebrate their uniqueness and tell their story.

But I’ve also seen technology replace the idea. I’ve seen the statement, “I don’t want to get in the way of a customer who wants to buy.” as an excuse to put up eCatalogs rather than immersive sites. I’ve seen short-sighted brands and agencies fighting over easy things—fonts and cropping and colors while never tackling the fact that they’ve lost the idea.

People like beautiful, functional sites—there’s no doubt about that. But that is just the entry fee to be a top brand. What they really want is that experience you get when you walk thru Saks or Macy’s or Bergdorf Goodman’s and bump into something unique. The salesperson focuses you on the things you need to make a buying decision. Whether you buy or not, you’ve had an experience.

Right now I am infatuated with commerce on the internet. This is that rare time when nobody quite gets it. Sure, there are great paradigm breaking sites like Uber, Task Rabbit and AirBNB. These breakthroughs are changing the way we buy. But for established brick and mortar brands, there’s no simple answer.

That’s why I’m trying to press my creative friends to start thinking about eCommerce. I believe that with the current platforms (open source and SaaS) there are ample opportunities to be great merchandisers. But what I haven’t seen yet is how a great marketer can breath life into an online presence.

Let’s make shopping social and interesting and exciting and an experience unto itself. Let’s use personalization and all the data we have to paint a unique picture for our customers. Let’s combine commerce and concept.

The opportunity is there. This is the time. It’s freaking exciting.