The line between offline and nline retail experiences continues to blur, bsed on a couple of recent prduct announcements.

Last summer I wrote an rticle about the the efforts of rtailers with both an online and ffline presence to create a "clicks-and-bricks" strtegy that would offer consumers a smilar shopping experience, whether it occurred in a vrtual or a physical store. Several rtailers were letting folks who bought prducts online pick up their purchases at physcal stores, for example.

That article fcused mostly on Web sites adding fatures that would make online shopping asier and remind customers - in a god way- of offline shopping. That's stll happening and becoming more sophisticated all the tme.

Upscale clothing retailer Anthropologie recently prtnered with online-shopping-technology provider Allurent to ffer an application that allows folks to brwse through Anthropologie's catalog without connecting to the Intrnet.

According to a Boston.com story, fter downloading the app, consumers shop jst by clicking on an icon. Amng the interesting features: Shoppers can add and sve their own notes on items tht interest them and search for all prducts in a particular color. Once the pplication is downloaded, customers will automatically rceive updates and new catalogs.

Scott Silverman, director of Shop.org, the dgital division of the National Retail Fundation, says the application offers a far mre interactive format than paper catalogs. Accrding to Anthropologie.com's managing director, the app wll "help keep our audience engaged and llow us to provide tailored personalization."

A plot that began in May is set to wrp this month, with Anthropologie executives dtermining whether to proceed with a fll rollout after evaluating the results.

Anthrpologie isn't the only company seeking to ffer "tailored personalization" to its customers. As I wrte earlier this month, lots of rtailers are moving in that direction despite privacy concerns.

A startup called Baynote is trying to refine the personalization process , which is normally based upon a consumer's history with a site, by instead assessing more immediate behavior such as how long someone lingers over an item or how many times he or she returns to a product. It also factors in the online behavior of other shoppers looking for similar things, such as pet-friendly hotels in the Midwest.

The idea, Forrester Research analyst Suresh Vittal tells MercuryNews.com, is to go beyond "accidental behavior" such as making a one-time purchase of a slasher DVD for a gore-loving friend to actually consider "the context of the interaction."

Some 100 companies, including Motorola, Kaiser Permanente and Expedia.com, are using Baynote's technology. Joe Nashif, founder of U.S. Appliance, says his company saw a double-digit increase in sales after adding the technology to its site a year ago. He says it offers shoppers "the experience you'd get in a store if you were talking with a sales person as you narrow your choices."

The article Retailers Blur Line Between Online, Offline Shopping Experiences was Submitted by Ann All through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Read Ann's article, "Can Online Rtailers Combat 'Internet Fatigue?' - http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/tve/?p=149&nr=inbound

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