> (PS: My former students would be taking me to task over getting the > terminology wrong. This is cross-selling. Upselling is talking them into a > large coke when they wanted a medium. lucky they're not on list - I'd > never live it down!)
My understanding of current merchandising terminology: Upselling = if buy medium coke, suggest large coke (your example) Cross-selling = if buy shirt, suggest tie; if buy tie, suggest shirt (2-way association) Accessorizing = if buy mobile phone, suggest hands-free kit (1-way only) Packaging = offer multiple SKUs as one product, usually at a discount to purchasing items individually. So if customer buys one item belonging to a package, suggest buying all the other items to qualify for the "Sizzling Summer Pack - all for only $19.95!". Above product relationships are static. Recommendation Engines can also work with dynamic relationships which are based on statistical methods. You mentioned amazon.com's "people who bought this book/cd also bought this". That's called "Collaborative Filtering". Type that into Google and you'll find lots of research papers on the subject. But what you need sounds like a "Product Configurator", usually used for ordering build-to-order products like PCs. There lots of (probably very expensive) software tools for doing that. Type "product configurator" into Google to find all the players. If your needs are simple, you can probably write your own just to cater to your requirements. Others have suggested some good techniques. Just make sure your design is scalable because these things have a way of getting more complex as users push the limit over time (but that's another project and it keeps you in work, so it's all good right?) Regards: Ayudh +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | SOAP is the glue! Hook up your server directly to your bank. | | Connect to VeriPay xServ, the Australian Payments Web Service. | | Reliable, Secure, FAST: http://www.xilo.com/xserv | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ----- Original Message ----- From: "barry.b" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CFAussie Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 1:04 AM Subject: [cfaussie] RE: thoughts on a "do you want fries with that" upselling system? > thanx for the suggestions Gavin and Darren > > (LOL, Darren! you've been thru that nightmare yourself before with > clients, yes?) > > Thankfully, the guy is a bit more realistic than most. You can't model the > real world, so don't try. > > The thing only needs to collect the order. Confirmation and sales happen > via email or phone - there are just too many variables. a customer really > might want Vers3 audio hardware and Vers2 audio software because it's for > 2 diff jobs, just placed within the same order. A phone call or email will > have to sort it out properly. > > along the lines of > > for each item in cart > display item details > query for companion products for that item > if records returned > display "here are suitable accessories" > for each companion product > display companion product details > next (companion product) > end if > next (item) > > Which goes along with what Gavin was suggesting and having a rules table > with 2 joins to the products table. > > Darren, I agree with you that the guy needs to get the rules down pat > otherwise it'll be a pain in the bum. That's why I think I'll drop the > exclusion idea (too hard/unnecessary), although it'll be the same process > as above but use "anti-rules" ("this cannot go with that" rules). > > but you're right - keep it simple. you can make things foolproof, but you > can't make them idiot proof! > > thanx again, people > > cheers > barry.b > > (PS: My former students would be taking me to task over getting the > terminology wrong. This is cross-selling. Upselling is talking them into a > large coke when they wanted a medium. lucky they're not on list - I'd > never live it down!) > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > MXDU2004 + Macromedia DevCon AsiaPac + Sydney, Australia > http://www.mxdu.com/ + 24-25 February, 2004 --- You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] MXDU2004 + Macromedia DevCon AsiaPac + Sydney, Australia http://www.mxdu.com/ + 24-25 February, 2004
