Mass customisation challenges in Internet retailing through information management

The enormous information management capabilities available in the Internet retailing landscape today provide a challenging research opportunity with direct managerial implications for product suppliers and retailers. Elaborating on the multidisciplinary research challenges in this area, this paper applies the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) process in the Internet retailing context and develops a mass customisation model for the involved business players. The model is then applied and related to the components on an innovative EU funded business-to-business and business-to-consumer electronic commerce application, though the mediation of the CRM methodology. The alternative business models that can host the application are presented and related to the model's dimensions. The model's testing capabilities are also discussed. Direct managerial implications and future research perspectives are presented at the end. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.