The Curated Web. Three Examples: Content, E-Commerce & Social Commerce.

The web is fragmented.That fragmentation gave rise to search. And it's given rise to the role of social within finding. The 'finding' problem exacerbates as content / product grows. Great examples of the problem: eBay, Amazon and iTunes have nearly unlimited inventory and are often painful to explore (for that precise reason). One solution: curation. It is a trend that I have written much about... and it's a trend that will (and should) continue. Three examples:

- Content: my reliance on Twitter and Facebook for news is an example of content curated by my trusted social graph.

- E-commerce: Experts delivering their picks is a compelling way to drive conversions through curated expertise. Below is an example from JetSetter with "Molly Sims Inspired Travel". Each Sunday, the Golf Warehouse (TGW.com) features the clubs and products in the bag of that week's PGA winner. Of course, you can then shop his bag. And here is Nike's Li Na storefront which launched minutes after she won the French Open.

- Social Commerce: much of the movement from e-commerce to "social commerce" is predicated on experience being built atop social recommendations, sharing & findability.

As you try to distinguish yourself from the web's myriad of sites and products, think about how you can apply the concept of curation (experts, friends, taste-makers, etc) to improve findability, drive conversions, and establish marketing / viral programs.

'Real Time' Store Curation with Nike & Li Na

Yesterday, Li Na won the French Open and became the first Chinese tennis player to win a Grand Slam:

Li Na is a Nike-sponsored athlete - and immediately after her victory, Nike launched the "Li Na Collection" / storefront. The announcement was made on Twitter and Facebook:

Nike has long been savvy about real-time promotion and leveraging social media to drive sales, attention, discussion, etc (examples here). This is particularly noteworthy though because Nike effectively erected a real-time, curated storefront.

With pictures of what Li Na wore that morning, during here French Open Victory, Nike sold each piece of her ensemble. In effect, it is a trend that I have written about a few times: the curated web. In this case, curation comes from Nike and it's star athlete Li Na. It is a more compelling way to browse, find and buy.

And, it evolves over time. Nike can build out experiences for their athletes based on each event... and then users can explore those historically. For instance, why not showcase Nadal's outfits historically and bring them back on anniversary's of major events? And why not reveal what technology, clothing, etc are used Thursday - Sunday of each PGA event for your Nike golfers?

It worked for Michael Jordan with sneakers only... and with the online presence of today's athletes, we are seeing the rise of curated storefronts where the personality is first and the brand is second.