As 2013 begins, I have reached out to top technologists working on personalization solutions and technologies. I want to hear where they think the industry is headed, and how 2012 has advanced the art and science of personalization.
Jake Bailey is the Vice President of Product Marketing & Solutions at RichRelevance. He previously built the shopping media platform at RichRelevance, which delivers personalized advertising on some of the world’s largest retail websites. RichRelevance is a SaaS company that drives dynamic personalization for commerce. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, it serves over 100 different online retailers in 20+ countries.
Question: How has the recommender systems market changed in 2012?
The business is consolidating in favor of vendors that can keep pace with market demand for cross-channel innovations. The strongest retailers are demanding technologies that can span both channels and geographies.
Question: What are your proudest accomplishments for 2012?
Named #1 personalization provider by Internet Retailer
Expanded and/or revamped 5 of our offices (San Francisco, New York, Seattle, London, Boston)
Our largest clients have doubled-down on our partnerships (Expect big things in 2013)
Question: What part will recommender systems play in enabling an increasingly personalized customer experience?
Personalization technologies are still in their infancy. There are so many other channels where this technology has not been used effectively. Also, the ability to connect consumers’ personal shopping experience across touch points will dramatically increase. There are very few stores that can personalize your entire in-store experience based on what you’ve purchased online.
Question: What does the future hold for recommender systems and personalization?
Most people in e-commerce restrict personalization technologies to just product recommendations. It’s so much more than that. Expect to see advancements as retailers optimize for yield across their entire site, not solely with product recs.
On Target 