Nor do the six exhaust the current universe of customer-facing engines. For now, though, these half-dozen are among the most significant in digital business design. Choiceboards work best for products made from modular components that are delivered through smart, flexible supply-chain systems. The engine also requires sufficient customer knowledge of the product. So while choiceboards seem useful to a great many businesses, they would not be a good way to buy many professional services such as medicine and law.
Recommendation Engines help customers choose from a variety of existing products and services.
Well-executed recommendation engines can offer surprising suggestions. Delivering this informational service not only enhances customer attachment, it creates purchase opportunities and gives firms a valuable, real-time window on customer taste and opinion. Customer Produtivity Engines connect customers to a company's IT applications. Customers can become attached to these engines, which are generally proprietary, and this helps companies build strong, ongoing customer relationships. But productivity engines often require significant customer sophistication and commitment.