The weekend review: content personalization and the future of retail
With the news that Betaworks has purchased Instapaper (the company also purchased the flailing Digg last year), content personalization and monetization is becoming a major area of interest for investors and consumers alike. This week, the most popular research on GigaOM Pro incldues our latest Sector RoadMap on content personalization, a discussion about the role of mobile in the future of retail, and brief overview of the hybrid cloud landscape.
In “Sector RoadMap: Content Personalization in 2013,” the research report published in conjunction with our paidContent Live conference earlier this month, Mark Mulligan tackles the rapidly-evolving content personalization landscape. As content owners shift from human editorial curation towards machine-based recommendations, publishers, are relying on big data tools to study behavioral and social media data to target consumers and deliver highly dynamic, personalized content. Mulligan uses GigaOM Pro’s patented RoadMap methodology to identify and analyze six major disruption vectors that could impact the content personalization market over the next 12-24 months. Mulligan also highlights six personalization-technology vendors in both the B2B and consumer markets who could break away to dominate this landscape in the near-term future.
Next, “Why mobile is vital to the future of retail,” one of our latest podcasts, features Dr. Phil Hendrix and Doug Stephens in conversation with Adam Lesser. The three take a close look at how mobile computing is changing the shopping experience, as well as how showrooming is impacting the outlook for brick and mortar retailers. Hendrix dives into results from a recent consumer survey on the shopping experience (both online and in brick and mortar stores). Although physical, visceral experiences at brick and mortar stores is still a vital part of the shopping experience, successful retailers will need to drastically change the in-person shopping experience in order to survive. The mobile experience – apps as well as shopping platforms – will play in an increasingly vital role in dictating which types of physical shopping outlets can survive. Hendrix, Stephens, and Lesser also take a look at how big data is influencing the retail experience, especially through Amazon’s dominance in product discovery and comparison.
Last, in “Are Hybrid Clouds Just a Fear of Commitment?” David Linthicum weighs in on hybrid clouds as an increasingly popular option for companies who are not ready (or willing) to commit to a public versus a private cloud solution. Linthicum cites a few key features of hybrid cloud solutions, and provides a brief example of how Zynga has made use of a hybrid instance, but also lays out a set of caveats for businesses who are exploring this path.
Also popular this week:
The wearable computing market: a global analysis
Connected consumer 2013: how 2012 laid the groundwork for change
The 2013 task management tools market
