EC and personalization...

examples and failures

[Acternaweb]

Here is a topic for discussion that seems pretty cut and dry, but if you think "out of the box" there are some cool ideas. Wanted to see what other people have come across for ways that EC has helped with the personalization/customization on websites. Weather.com and msn sites do it, but what is "old" What you have seen and what about those that just didn't cut it.

For example Nike had Nike Id and Levi had the sites that allowed "cusomized" products, but I believe are no longer alive.

Hopefully this turns into a good thread.

[John_Brown]

I think one of the more interesting markets for this is the "schwag market." There are a number of sites out there that allow you to upload art such as www.branders.com and see the product displayed as a finished product. A great fun site is "http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html" which is a great. If a merchant can find a way to apply this to a custom product, the world is his/hers.

[cfx211]

I believe that personalization works best when it involves websites that users have a long standing regular involvement with. This does not really apply to most ecommerce sites because there is not a need to visit them on a daily basis, and the relationship is pretty much sell focused.

Now if you have a site that delivers information to user on a regular basis and where there the user recognizes value in personalization, then there will always be space to deliver products or ads to that user within the larger context of personalization.