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March 7, 2006

If we could get library catalogs to do this…!!!!

I was just perusing the March 2006 issue of KM World, when I spotted an article on page 6. The title “A site to delight the bibliophile” caught my eye and I began to read how Alibris, a company that helps people find books, is taking a giant step toward customization and adding value to their transactions. They have selected Cormetric’s A/B testing platform to measure customer demand, provide the ability to distill the search for specific types of materials into a very percise operation, and to improve marketing.

If libraries could adopt this platform, it would have profound implictions for collection development, interlibrary loan, and customer satisfaction. Imagine, a library user being able to start a book search by accessing the online card catalog, then being able to narrow there search to an item in a specific format or edition, and having that feed dirrectly into an ILL component. With this information a user profile could be created and when they view the catalog the computer could anticipate which materials would be of most interest and display them in that fashion for this particular individual.

Wouldn’t it also be cool, if this information could also be used to match booksale books with potential buyers. Also, when the patron was done with the book they were given the option of purchasing a similar work with a certain amount of the profit going back to the library?

Read the article and see what you think…

Bibliophiles’ delight
Posted Jan 30, 2006 Print Version Page 1of 1

An online rare and used book dealer is using a Web analytics tool to reach new customers and to improve visitor conversion and site usage.

Alibris has chosen Coremetrics’ A/B Testing platform, which is geared toward meeting the marketing, merchandising and site design needs of online retailers.

“When you have over 50 million books, helping a customer find a signed copy of an out-of-print book can be a challenge. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our user experience and make Alibris the easiest place to buy used books,” says Brian Elliott, COO at Alibris. “A/B testing lets us manage risk by measuring customer demand earlier in our development process. Rather than rely on subjective evaluations, we can use the solution to quantify the impact on visitor conversion before committing additional resources.”

According to Coremetrics, Alibris used its A/B testing and real estate reporting software, for example, to change the presentation of a search function that narrows the focus of a search. Moving the option to a more prominent position on the site had a major impact—500 percent more clicks and a 400 percent increase in sales, Coremetrics reports. With the new system, far more customers are using the tool to refine their search results by book attributes like signed, hardcover or first edition.

posted by Anna at 11:43 am |

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