A Virtual Customer Environment (VCE) is a web-based forum to facilitate customer co-innovation or user innovation.
Customers can partner with companies in different phases of product (or service) innovation - in product ideation, in product design & development, in product testing, and in product diffusion. VCEs can be designed so as to facilitate these different customer co-innovation roles. Examples of customer co-innovation through VCEs include Microsoft and the MVP forum; Nokia and the Concept Lounge; Ducati and the Tech Cafe; etc.
The term 'Virtual Customer Environment' was introduced by Prof. Satish Nambisan of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in a research article published in the Academy of Management Review (Nambisan, 2002).
Recent research published in MIT Sloan Management Review has focused on customer experience in such virtual customer environments and how companies can establish their VCEs so as to provide positive customer experiences in value co-creation.
Nambisan, S. (2002) "Designing virtual customer environments for new product development: Toward a theory," Academy of Management Review, 27(3), 392-413.
Sawhney, M., G. Verona, & E. Prandelli. (2005) “Collaborating to create: The Internet as a platform for customer engagement in product innovation,” Journal of Interactive Marketing, 19 (4), 4-17.
Nambisan, S. and P. Nambisan (2008) “How to Profit from a Better ‘Virtual Customer Environment’,” MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring 2008.
Research Channel Video on VCE: [1]