Looking for new ways to reach consumers, retailers like eBags, ICE.com, TowerRecords.com and others are using R.S.S., or "really simple syndication," to feed product alerts to Internet users who have set up personalized Web pages on Yahoo, Google and other sites.
I don't know how many e-mails you get a day, but I can't keep up," said Jon Nordmark, the chief executive of eBags. "Rather than delivering a slightly relevant message to a person's mailbox, this allows us to get customers very detailed information directly."
The system, in the case of eBags at least, appears simple enough. Starting later this month, consumers who visit either the company's main site or its shoe site, 6pm.com, will see R.S.S. icons near the sites' products, with messages offering users regular updates on those products. Once a user has indicated a preference for, say, black, size 11 Cole Haan shoes, he clicks on the icon telling the company to send the alerts to his personalized page, then confirms the request by signing into that page.
Read more
thro' NY Times