October 4, 1999

Personalized Shopping On The Internet

Blaze and 2order.com offer software that evaluates customersı use of Web sites

By Beth Bacheldor

Related links:

Customized E-Business Personal Business

And from our sister publications:

InternetWeek Web Banking With A Personal Touch

ompanies such as YuSave.com, an upcoming online marketplace for consumers, want to personalize each customer's shopping experience. New products are becoming available to do it.

Blaze Software Inc. this week will introduce Blaze Advisor Rule Server and Blaze Advisor Innovator, Java software tools that let companies build personalization and self-service features into Web sites. The software can also link Web sites to other customer channels, such as call centers.

Last week, 2order.com Inc. introduced its own software for personalizing the buying process, called 2order Net Marketplace. "Our technology turns the Web site from being a passive catalog into a top salesperson," says Scott Geller, CEO of 2order.com, formerly called BT Squared Technologies Inc.

At the core of both companies' products are rules-based engines that automate Web-site activity by evaluating how customers use sites and what information they input. The software can instantly produce a response specific to a customer's query. The rules-based systems differ from personalization products that track click streams or the parts of sites that customers visit. "Rules can act as a brain for decision-making processes," says Lynne Harvey, a senior analyst with the Patricia Seybold Group.

Both companies say their software will help companies create proactive Web sites. For example, an online drugstore could recommend various over-the-counter drugs based on a customer's symptoms.

YuSave.com, which will begin selling thousands of consumer goods early next year, plans to use 2order.com's software. "If you go to most of the Web sites out there, you can only shop the way they tell you to shop," says John Gunning, CEO of the Atlanta startup. "But there are a number of ways people shop. Some know exactly what they want; some people come to browse; some people shop by feature, value, and price. In the end, we want to deliver to them exactly the product they are looking for."

2order Net Marketplace is available now and is sold via per-processor or per-transaction licensing models. Pricing varies depending on configuration, but a per-processor licensing fee starts around $100,000.

Blaze Advisor Rule Server is available, and Blaze Advisor Innovator will ship by year's end. The software starts at around $50,000.

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