Introduction to the Personalization in E-commerce

E-commerce is becoming an increasingly preferred method of conducting commercial transactions worldwide, and its importance continues to grow. The ability to access potential customers around the world serves as the impetus for discovering novel channels to reach out to buyers and entice them to make a purchase. Personalization, which involves modifying presented content to fulfill the specific needs, requirements, behaviors, or preferences of the user, is one such approach. Personalization can have various technical implementations but requires knowledge of the target recipient. However, obtaining customer information cannot compromise their right to privacy. Stringent legal regulations and market trends currently safeguard this privacy, but the existing standards provide opportunities for a compromise that allows for personalization in e-commerce while respecting the privacy of the customer. This chapter begins with a general introduction to the topic of e-commerce. It then identifies the development trends that are increasing the practical importance of personalization. In the following chapters, the technical aspects of website personalization, as well as the challenges for personalization arising from the growing importance of customer privacy and data protection, are discussed.