MyBuys, Systemax say mobile and personalization to lead eTail’s future

In this morning’s opening session at eTail, Robert Cell, CEO of MyBuys.com stressed that consumers today are looking for personalization online and that those companies who have adapted personalization strategies have seen significant growth through their e-commerce platforms.

“A consumer is personalization,” said Cell. “We believe there are three basic tenants. You have to have a long-term memory, second, we need deep, relevant attribution and lastly it’s about being agnostic because consumers don’t think about channels, they think about touch points.”

Cell also mentioned mobile as a trend that is increasing so rapidly that online retailers are scrambling to figure out what their strategy will be.

Gilbert Fiorentino, CEO, Systemax, (TigerDirect.com, CompUSA, CircuitCity.com) listed mobile as an increasing trend but noted that the in-store retail experience is important still and the future of its success hinges on retailers bringing an online experience in-store. He also said that differentiation will be the key in upcoming online retail business and soon, the key differentiator will be price, so selling commodity products will be harder and harder.

“Steps must be taken for retail and etail to work synergistically,” he said. “The rate of change is compressing. The world changed in ten years and in just a couple it’s changed again.”