Adaptive Web stores

The undi erentiated approach to mass marketing has been recently replaced with market segmentation techniques psy chographic and socio demographic analyses are exploited to identify homogeneous market segments to which suitable products and services must be o ered At the same time the advent of the electronic com merce especially in the customer to business perspective has opened new opportunities for sales as well as new is sues to address in the design of on line stores In particular since these stores are accessed by heterogeneous users they should satisfy di erent needs and preferences in the selection of goods this ability requires ltering capabilities to iden tify the items most suited to the speci c customers Moreover since Web stores are hypermedia systems they should meet the users needs in what concerns the interac tion style As discussed in users di er with respect to many parameters e g their status expertise preferences and the reason for connecting to the system which should be taken into account in order to enhance the usability of systems Traditionally the research on electronic sales has mainly focused on order processing and secure payment transac tions Only recently the personalization of the inter actions with customers has received special attention e g see The customization of a virtual store involves many tasks these range from a detailed characterization of product features which is essential to support a exible selection of items suiting the customers needs to the iden ti cation of the special features of the customer groups to which the store products are directed In particular the relevant products should be selected for presentation and their description should be tailored to the user s expertise