RSS Feeds Aim to Simplify Web Shopping
Looking for new ways to reach consumers, retailers like eBags, ICE.com, TowerRecords.com and others are using RSS, or “really simple syndication,” to feed product alerts to Internet users who have set up personalized Web pages on Yahoo Google, and other sites/readers.
This month, consumers who visit the site(s) will see RSS icons near the sites’ products, with messages offering users regular updates on those products. Once a user has indicated a preference for, say, black size 11 Cole Haan shoes, he clicks on the icon telling the company to send the alerts to his personalized page, then confirms the request by signing into that page.
If the user directs eBags to deliver alerts to a My Yahoo page, eBags will send the alert typically an item description with a photo only when it has a new product or a promotion relevant to the specified items.
Retailers with a dynamic product mix and customers who are passionate about new products are particularly well suited to RSS feeds. TowerRecords.com, for instance, allows users to sign up to hear about new music releases in a variety of genres, through its “Tower Alerts” service. Travel sites like Kayak, SideStep, Travelocity, Orbitz and others have also recently introduced RSS feeds showing good deals or destination suggestions.
Posted by Roy | March 19, 2006
