Personalization Will Make Strides in 2012

Trust Apple to show the way. Yes, again! With Siri, personalization makes a significant leap forward, and now the media is abuzz with other possibilities – from Siri on Apple’s version of the television, to Best Buy’s catalog now available on iOS, and for Siri to help shoppers shop at BestBuy.

All this is very good news for the industry!

Once upon a time, e-commerce was an emerging trend. All retailers were forced to think about a dot com strategy. Some are still laggards … I heard the CEO of Pier One Imports on CNBC the other day saying that he intends to launch an e-commerce site this summer. I thought to myself, “Huh? You still don’t have one?”

I think, with Siri, Apple is now pushing the entire eco-system to THINK. Again. The notion of a personalized store still remains elusive. I have told this story time and again. I want my very own, very personalized SAKS Fifth Avenue. I want fashion merchandise that fits my size, my style, my hair color, my eye color, my skin tone, my mood.

Amazon, much as it innovates elsewhere, in terms of its recommendation engine, has remained stuck in the stone ages of personalization, never going further than collaborative filtering. It needs to.

All retailers should start rethinking their personalization strategies. Blue Nile. Netflix. Zappos. Shutterfly.

All web businesses need to start rethinking their personalization strategies. Travel. News. Local Search. Online Marketing. Music.

In fact, all businesses need to start rethinking their personalization strategies. Starbucks. Microsoft. HP.

Hopefully, 2012 will be an exciting year full of innovation in personalization.

Hopefully, it will usher in Web 3.0.