First, being primarily a mail order company, they didn't have to worry about upsetting distribution channels by selling direct over the Net. Second, Dell sells custom computers. The would-be romance author fills out a form of about sixty items about himself and his or her love interest and selects how steamy the novel should be. ActionFit offers swim suits and aerobic wear, Country Road Fashions offers custom Western wear and Interactive Custom Clothes Company offers custom jeans in over a hundred fabrics. Any individual customer is likely to be interested in only a small subset of these.
Users register and indicate their product areas of interest.
Customers may also choose to get weekly customized email messages summarizing TI product news for the previous week in their areas of interest. Individuals first must be identified, then their behavior and preferences can be remembered and used as the basis for differentiated products, service and marketing. Remembering individual differences then customizing offerings is the essence of relationship marketing. One of the simplest ways to start building a personal relationship with visitors and customers is to remember who they are and a little about them. For example, the MovieLink site stores the visitor's name and zip code in a cookie and uses that to display local theaters.