RecLab by RichRelevance will connect researchers, developers and academics with the goal of creating better recommendation algorithms for online retailers.
A former engineer at Amazon has come up with a way to speed up the process of finding better math to produce suggestions of things you actually might want to buy.
RichRelevance — the brainchild of CEO David Selinger, who is credited with creating Amazon.com’s personalization and recommendation engine — is introducing enRICH for Brands, which offer targeted rich media ads (with anything from video tutorials, testimonials, and couponing to trials and reviews) integrated within retailers’ product recommendations.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Online retailers rarely accept third-party ads for products on their own websites for a pretty simple reason: If the goal is a purchase, then a click-through would lose a potential customer.
But some vendors and retailers — including Target and Overstock — are experimenting with a new advertising unit that recommends a product within the site. Think of it as the equivalent of an end cap or an aisle display in a bricks-and-mortar store.
Welcome to a new era of retail – where the shopper is in charge. Consumers now engage with brands and stores across channels, using whichever methods suit them best. Technology has unleashed freedom of choice and action, thereby creating a shopper with heightened expectations about how the shopping experience should unfold. To compete and win, retailers must not only accommodate the complex behaviour of this new kind of consumer, but also provide dynamic, engaging experiences at whichever touch point the customer chooses to engage. The customer expects a personal service, whether online, on the telephone or in person.
In the digital age, shoppers want social engagement online, vastly improved functionality, payment security and a seamless cross-channel shopping experience.
“The trick for etail decision-makers today is not just to closely follow how the technology is developing, but to also track and react to how customers are using it,” says Aurora Fashions group multichannel director Hash Ladha. “Social trends are changing so fast and expectations of where, when and how you can buy products are rising ahead of what we’re able to offer. People are arriving at websites and saying ‘why can’t I do this or that?’ So the pressure really is on to keep up.”
…
Personal recommendations – ‘Customers who purchased X also purchased Y’ – was the starting point in this new marketing discipline, and lists of ‘current top sellers’ also began helping consumers sift through the overwhelming volume of product options at their fingertips. But much more can now be done by using customer data, items viewed, demographic data, personal interests and favourite brands, authors and artists to personalise the offer. Etailers are progressing beyond using other customers’ shopping habits, to using an individual’s online behaviour to shape what’s presented to them.
…