Configurator-Based Product Choice in Online Retail - Transferring mass customization thinking to services in retail.

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.