Quixtar pushes for more personalization
Having launched a redesign of its web site almost two years ago, Quixtar Inc. now is using the site and e-commerce technology to make a bigger push into personalization.
Specifically, Quixtar, No. 20 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, is adding new personalization features such as online health questionnaires and remaking Quixtar.com into a more consumer-oriented site.
In April, Quixtar added online health questionnaires that help the company’s independent business owners – users who purchase Quixtar products both for themselves and for others – count how many vitamins and minerals they receive from daily supplements and then place a custom order.
A pair of other tools – genetic tests for heart health and general nutrition – also helps users determine a genetic predisposition to certain types of heart disease and if they have increased needs for B vitamins and antioxidants. “The new questionnaires and the resulting product recommendations help to personalize each order,” says Quixtar director of marketing Ray Alexander. “The order we ship will be a customized packet for each transaction.”
In June, Quixtar also unveiled a new e-commerce service for independent business owners that enable small businesses to build customized e-commerce sites. The small business owners can use the Quixtar tool to create their own e-commerce sites specifically designed to meet the needs of their sharply focused clientele. The sites, with themed templates for health, beauty, and gifts and incentives, enable shoppers to browse products, place and manage orders, and process returns, all of which is handled on the back end by Quixtar.
Future enhancements include giving users more e-mail templates, contact management and guided navigation tools to manage their business. “We are leveraging Ajax, or asynchronous JavaScript and XML, to create more personalization,” says Quixtar CIO Heather Anderson.
Quixtar, the e-commerce and direct marketing subsidiary of Alticor Inc., which also owns Amway, will roll out a new online university this year. The university features new training and business management tools. “We are giving independent business owners more touch points,” says Anderson.
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