Time to Acquire StyleFeeder

StyleFeeder is a personalized shopping tool which tracks and records the purchases of customers in order to provide them with future recommendations (1). This system is very similar to the Amazon.com setup which tracks which books consumers purchase in order to make suggestions on which items may suit the shopper’s personal preferences (1). StyleFeeder is thorough, weeding through thousands of different clothing designs in order to “take the guesswork out of what to buy"(1). Recently, Time Inc. has acquired StyleFeeder in an effort to tap the new, lucrative realm of e-commerce (1).

E-Commerce is like a new field of untapped raw materials, stretching to the horizon. In fact, in a financial year including one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression, companies specializing in internet sales, like Google, Amazon.com, or EBay saw an increase in business and fourth quarter profits (2). Even discount retail giant WalMart has tapped into the goldmine of e-commerce, vowing to "overtake Amazon.com." (3). Time Inc. specializes in advertising, but obviously has many competitors in this field. The need to tap into the online world of e-commerce isn't just recommended for success, it's necessary for survival. Pressures of a world moving towards globalization beget the need to be as efficient and low-cost as possible in order to stay alive. Traditional, mass-marketing forms of advertising, such as the television, and even pop-ups or banners placed on websites may only translate into marginal increases in sales. However, direct-marketing, still largely untapped, would provide customers with individual recommendations and could lead to even greater gains in sales for a smaller advertising cost. In the world of e-commerce, the competitive advantage for a firm lies in customer service and efficiency. StyleFeeder fulfills both these requirements with its technologically advanced system, offering a new solution for an advertising firm looking to lower its bottom-line.
What are the implications for us as consumers if our purchases are all tracked and then used to evaluate what we should purchase next? Furthermore, what implications are there in the burgeoning world of e-commerce? The benefits are clear: easy access to most products to fill any need from the comfort of home and with nothing more than the tap of a few keys. With StyleFeeder, consumers don’t even have to search for what they like. Instead, technology provides the answers for what they should be buying.

But what are the consequences?
In the past, sales were all about personal interaction. People visited department stores, browsed the collections offered, and often interacted with a member of the sales staff. While the dialogue was strictly professional, it was a way to venture out of the home, to interact with another human being, and to work towards the accomplishment of a task: a purchase. Maybe the consumer would shop with friends, grab lunch, and make a day trip out of the ordeal. In the end, after a search through many different options, the ideal product that matched the style preferences and needs of the customer was found. There was a sense of accomplishment. Maybe it’s anecdotal, but are we as humans losing something by foregoing this personal interaction, even the “thrill of the chase” in purchasing items, by resorting to a lonely computer screen that allows technology to make our decisions for us?

Imagine the world of car sales, one of the last remaining bastions of true, hardcore, selection-process shopping. The internet is a tool to search out the best price, to option out the vehicle of choice and to view different options, but ultimately a car-buyer needs to “walk the lot” to pick out the car that “feels right.” It’s not always logical. It’s emotional, it’s something physical. After that selection, an intense, exciting, strategic argument takes place over the sales desk to pound out the best number. At the end of the day, if the car-buyer leaves with his or her automobile, they feel the thrill of the sale and the excitement of a new car that they picked out. They may have “wasted the day” searching, but the purchase feels better because they had to work for it.

What if there came a time where a StyleFeeder type program got to know a person’s inner personality. Their wants, their dislikes, and even their needs. Direct marketing became as personal as DNA. Marketing systems, enhanced with automated production and delivery systems allowed technology to not only make our decisions for us, but to deliver on those decisions. Human input in this process wouldn’t even include thought, as it still does now. The tap of a few keys to start the algorithms would finish the process. Several hours later, a personally designed car based on a machine’s determination of your needs through logic would appear in your driveway. You never left your house. You never interacted with the sales team, or felt the warmth of the sun on your face while you walked the car lot. You never engaged in the camaraderie born from the dialogue between you and the salesman. You never wasted your time driving to different stores, walking the lots, or weighing your options. Your purchase was simple, your price was the best, and you got what you needed. In fact, it couldn’t possibly be any easier. But you’ve lost your emotions and you’ve missed out on an experience in the name of efficiency. Haven’t you lost something that makes you human?

See Article:
Shira Ovide. (2010, January 19). Time to Acquire StyleFeeder. Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. B.8. Retrieved February 11, 2010, from ProQuest National Newspapers Core. (Document ID: 1942356421).

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703626604575011191771805782.html?KEYWORDS=Time+to+Acquire+StyleFeeder

End Notes:
(1) Shira Ovide. (2010, January 19). Time to Acquire StyleFeeder. Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. B.9. Retrieved February 11, 2010, from ProQuest National Newspapers Core. (Document ID: 1942356421).

(2) Kelly Evans. (2010, January 21). Ahead of the Tape. Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. C.1. Retrieved February 11, 2010, from Wall Street Journal. (Document ID: 1944029391).

(3) Miguel Bustillo, & Geoffrey A. Fowler. (2009, December 15). Wal-Mart Sees Stores as Online Edge. Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. B.1. Retrieved February 11, 2010, from Wall Street Journal. (Document ID: 1921198751).