[taeric]

I think the point is more along the lines of there not being a personalization story for most product companies that really makes sense.

That is, the dream that a bike company can use personalization to get better market penetration with their emails is dubious. Even a category store can only tailor their message so much. Is why most bookstores all have the same books.

This goes as far as medicine. People want to think that a personalized prescription would be far more unique for individuals than the truth of it just being slightly tweaked.

[schaunwheeler]

Let's take the bike company example. There are three main ways you could vary our outreach to potential customers: time, topic, and text.

Just think about timing: when is the best time for someone to get a message from you? There are aggregate stats about certain days or time being better for open rates, but customers aren't a monolithic entity. Some times work for some customers, and other times work for others. We've found that timing decisions have huge impact on ROI in industries ranging from gaming to retail to food delivery.

Now look at topic: what kind of bike do you try to interest them in? Do you try to interest them in a bike at all, or do you pitch a helmet, or shorts, or repair services. Personalizing topic is the essence of a recommender system, which has been discussed elsewhere in this thread, and it's possible to get something like that, even for a bike shop.

Then you have text: let's just look at value proposition. Do you appeal to their love of the open road? Their desire to exercise and get more fit? Spend time with their families? Replace an old bike that's causing them maintenance headaches? By learning what aspect of biking individual people care about, you can tailor subsequent communication to emphasize those things.

A bike company has virtually endless ways to tailor their message.

[taeric]

I'd push back pretty heavily on that. Bike companies have plenty of ways to tweak messaging. But at the end of the day, bike shops have set and small hours. And Walmart is probably the largest seller of bikes in a given region.

And, as is usual in product companies, getting price under control will almost certainly have more of an impact on sales. That and just getting in front of more people, period.