In a presentation at Internet Retailing 2009 on ”The Empowered Consumer: Friend or Foe?”, Alan Mitchell, chairman of the Buyer Centric Commerce Forum, will be asking the question: “Are you ready for Vendor Relationship Management?”
VRM is an emerging set of tools and services that empower consumers to manage their relationships with their suppliers, including how much information they share with which organisations. Within a few years, VRM-enabled retailers will benefit from live feeds of volunteered information from customers, including information about items purchased from competitors, plans for future purchases and administrative updates such as change of contact details.
On the other hand, non-VRM retailers risk losing sight of their customers as they retreat behind VRM-enabled anonymity shields. How can retailers make VRM an opportunity rather than a threat?
• Internet Retailing 2009 takes place on Tuesday 13 October at the Novotel in Hammersmith, west London. The full conference agenda, along with speaker profiles, is now available online. Conference delegate and exhibition visitor registration is also now open.
