How does it work? A presentation agent detects the capabilities of your browser and displays content in the most compelling fashion depending whether you are accessing the Internet through a computer or a cellular phone. A matching agent may record your preferences as you answer log-in questions or just watch your behavior on the site- what you click- and dynamically serve you content relevant to your special needs. A recommendation agent a la Amazon.com recommends products that you may wish to buy. And, finally a capability to customize a site such as My Yahoo! gives consumers the ability to create a personal workspace that's fully customized to their needs. All such agents are incorporated in Vignette's V/5 Lifecycle Personalization Server.
There are several reasons why a business would pursue personalization. It improves the utility of a site. This attracts clients, builds loyalty and helps retain customers . That's why portals are continuously beefing up their personalization features. With Yahoo, you can have free email, an address book, a calendar with reminders, and alerts to deliver your most important information into your e-mail box. This is jazzed up with a personal briefcase to access and share files anywhere and a companion toolbar so you are always a click away from your favorite destinations. And, My Yahoo! enables users to personalize content and layout.
Personalization enables a business to improve its service. For example, the technology makes it possible to only display catalogue products of interest to individuals or tailoring web responses to products a user has bought. With today's information overload, customers want to get what they need immediately without having to sift through hundreds of pages. In doing so, personalization provides for more focused relationships with customers. It also provides increased opportunities for up selling and cross selling that result in increased revenues and greater customer satisfaction.
The major enabling technologies are: cookies, JavaScript and Java, and agent technology based on artificial intelligence. The infamous cookie is nothing but a small text file that helps store basic identification data on a visitor such as a User Id to enable a site to get a sense of who they are dealing with. JavaScript can detect browser capabilities and display the appropriate content. And, agent-based technology is at the heart of all major vendor products.
