Configurator-based product choice in online retail: Transferring mass customization thinking to services in retail

Conference Paper
International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2011
Authors

Marc Gerards

Florian Siems

David Antons

Christoph Ihl

Frank T. Piller

Published

December 1, 2011

Abstract
In many retail situations, customers today face vast assortments and often have limited ability to find exactly what they need. By implementing a need-based toolkit for assortment matching, retailers can limit this complexity of choice, increasing the satisfaction of consumers with the goods acquired. Building such a need-based system however is costly and time-consuming, as expert knowledge and matching rules have to be designed, implemented, and maintained. The objective of this paper is to investigate the performance contribution of such an expert system for need-based configuration. Using a real life experiment with 1934 customers using a toolkit supporting them to find a new digital camera, we show both the development of such a system and its effect on customer choice. We find that investing in such a system seems worthwhile: Compared to a base case, need-based configurators provide better fit between customer needs and functional product features.

Research

© Anne Gärtner

Authors

Marc Gerards, Florian Siems, David Antons, Christoph Ihl, Frank T. Piller

Abstract

In many retail situations, customers today face vast assortments and often have limited ability to find exactly what they need. By implementing a need-based toolkit for assortment matching, retailers can limit this complexity of choice, increasing the satisfaction of consumers with the goods acquired. Building such a need-based system however is costly and time-consuming, as expert knowledge and matching rules have to be designed, implemented, and maintained. The objective of this paper is to investigate the performance contribution of such an expert system for need-based configuration. Using a real life experiment with 1934 customers using a toolkit supporting them to find a new digital camera, we show both the development of such a system and its effect on customer choice. We find that investing in such a system seems worthwhile: Compared to a base case, need-based configurators provide better fit between customer needs and functional product features.

Tags

Mass Customization Online Retail Product Configuration