Author(s)

Sohini Chatterjee

Corresponding Author

Sohini Chatterjee

Abstract

E-commerce has always been guided by the tenet ‘know your customer’. The application of big data analytics in e-commerce has enabled the personalisation of shopping to each consumer. Big data sourced from transaction or business activity, click stream, video and voice is processed to micro-segment consumers and derive granular insights. This paper is an exploration into the manner in which such personalisation is done through consumer profiling, predictive analytics, targeted advertisements, improving user experience and price personalisation. Further, it examines accompanying challenges arising from both within and outside the organisation, like organisational culture, derivation of business intelligence, data privacy and security, and data monopolies. The study indicates that while there is considerable cause for optimism about the future of the big data and e-commerce marriage, it is also useful to be cognisant of the limitations of big data and concerns around data privacy and security.

Keywords

Big data; Data analytics; Personalisation; E-commerce