E-commerce insights on social trust, LEGO and Nintendo examples.
Why the name OneAnt
It’s because ant colony-like human behavior drives online purchases.
Have you ever watched an ant colony at work?
They move with a collective purpose. No single leader dictates what to do. Yet, each ant impacts its community’s success. They instinctively trust their ecosystem:
– following trails other ants lay down,
– collaborating to carry food,
– and building structures together.
Human behavior around e-commerce is very much the same.
Today, we feel overwhelmed with choices. But at the same time, we repeatedly choose a few brands over all others. Why? It’s not about pricing or quality—an invisible force of social trust and community validation is at work.
We trust the recommendations of people in situations similar to ours.
Influencers act as digital trust bridges, too. They guide us toward products they genuinely believe in (or at least appear to). The entire creator economy thrives on the idea that “if you trust me, you’ll trust my choices”.
Social trust and community brought these two top brands ‘back from the dead’
LEGO
In the early 2000s, LEGO was on the brink of bankruptcy.
A shift toward co-creation with its community was its savior. LEGO leveraged user-generated ideas and fan-driven innovation to make an epic comeback.
Nintendo
Remember when Nintendo failed with the ‘Wii U’?
They were about to fade into irrelevance. They saved themselves by betting big on community-driven engagement.
The world is moving toward micro-communities, trust-driven marketplaces, and group-buying models. E-commerce success will be all about leveraging ant colony-like human behavior. People will increasingly buy and save together like ants— thriving and moving as one.