ChoiceStream says users want personalized websites

Research says users want personalized websites

More and more websites and portals are diving down into offering interface customization options to their users. Some offer color themes and other offer customized templates to change the outlook of the web portals and sites. Other even allow users to add their own stuff to their own customized homepages of websites. Yahoo! pioneers the concept with their My Yahoo! page and Google is doing it in steps with the introduction of My Google concept.

Even the research has suggested that the web users want more personalization from the Web sites they visit. However, more important is that the website should work on improving their image when it comes to reliability and security of the details and personal information user stores on their sites. Users also like the sites to have clearly articulated policies for safeguarding consumer information.

The survey was carried out by ChoiceStream, which develops personalization technologies for e-commerce applications. The research concluded that consumers are wary of identification-theft threats from over-personalized Web sites. Steve Johnson, president and CEO of ChoiceStream said in a statement: “Despite significant interest in personalization, there is growing concern among consumers about the security of their personal data — even with established, trusted brands. To address these concerns, we as an industry must be absolutely vigilant in our efforts to safeguard consumers’ personal data.”

They also revealed that many online shopping sites are losing business by not revealing details about their actual inventory positions. Many customers claimed that they are afraid of buying more CDs and DVDs from web stores fearing that the delivery would be delayed due to lack of product availability.