Yesterday, a new beta site launched offering social and tech-savvy consumers a chance to explore their city (starting in Seattle) in a fun and engaging way.

Wrazz (wrazz.com) is a new site that blends social networking and social commerce allowing friends to connect and find the best deals in their local area.

Bringing The Event To You

Some of the most important parts of business are making connections, following leads, and communicating with future prospects. Many companies participate in Expos, Conventions, Trade Shows, and many other eCommerce events for this reason. Today, business travel is on the decline and smaller companies are missing potentially valuable associations. However, many people are meeting and engaging with colleagues from around the world online.

The Decline of Customer Service and the Rise of Self-Service

New technologies allow consumers to freely explore seemingly endless amounts of products and information online. Because of this, consumers are becoming increasingly self-reliant. People check-in to flights and hotels with automated machines and purchase groceries through check-out stations. Consumers are responding positively to self-service systems and the need to interact with customer service employees is rapidly decreasing.

For many retailers, there is no hotter word right now than mobile commerce. Many big name companies have already launched mobile sites and features for their brand and the buzz may entice smaller businesses to quickly jump on the mobile bandwagon. However, before even putting together a mobile strategy, there are several factors to consider.

Not long ago, social commerce was merely an abstract concept with a questionable future in eCommerce. Now, nearly every retailer knows that engaging online consumers is an essential part of business. Companies are eager to start the conversation with their customers and get the customers talking to each other.

PowerReviews was founded in 2005 by Andrew Chen and Robert Chea and is now considered to be a leading provider of social commerce solutions. The company has helped hundreds of retailers engage customers and build communities online. Internet Retailer included the company in 2009’s Top 500 Solutions Winner. Sites such as RadioShack, Diapers.com, TicketsNow, and Orbitz and many more are using customer reviews systems provided by PowerReviews.