But despite all the talk about how best to personalise a customer's Web site experienceâ€"through if-then scenarios, by comparing new customers' behavior with past customers', or through AI for predictive analysisâ€"many sites are taking a more old-fashioned tack. They're talking to their customers.
Catalog apparel retailer Lands' End, after flirting with collaborative filtering, a personalisation technology based on a complex statistical algorithm that makes product recommendations based on the purchasing patterns of other consumers who behaved similarly at the site, launched a new feature last month called My Personal Shopper.
My Personal Shopper shows customers different outfits side by side and asks them which one they prefer. It also asks customers what type of clothing they're looking for, for what use, and what colors and fabrics they like. Then it takes that information and makes recommendations accordingly.
"It's a totally new way of recommending products online," said Terry Nelson, company's e-commerce marketing manager. "We put the customer in control of the experience. They don't have to buy something from us for us to make recommendations to them. They tell us what things they're interested in, what their preferences are, and we map our products to them."
That effort doesn't stop with My Personal Shopper. Lands' End also uses virtual models on its site that customers can customise to their looks and measurements, to get some idea of how the clothes might look on them. And it's even rolling out scanning stations across the country, where customers can have their exact measurements scanned by laser and uploaded to the site.
"The Internet allows us to be more personal and not just focus on mass marketing," Nelson said. "We want to continue to be innovative and set the bar higher for personalisation."
