Utilizing Information Processing for Enhancing Value : towards a model for supporting Business and Consumers within an Internet Retailing Environment

Information processing composes a critical success factor for business effectiveness. Consumer and Sales data comprise the core concept for supporting businesses to apply personalized Marketing/Sales strategies to satisfy consumers and gain competitive advantage. Towards this strategic objective, businesses are facilitated by the huge technology capabilities incorporated in an Electronic Commerce environment, facing an attractive business opportunity. Internet, as an “information intensive” trading channel, offers the appropriate framework for realizing such an objective. This paper defines an Internet Consumer Behavior Framework (ICBF) or in other words the information that a virtual retail store must collect (consumer, sales and navigation data). Furthermore, based on this information/data, it introduces a framework for providing Consumer (Consumer Support Model) and Business 1 This study was partly funded by the ACTIVE (Advertising and Commerce Through Internet in the context of the Virtual Enterprise) project (EP 27046), ESPRIT Programme (Framework IV), Commission of the European Union.