Combining the Database with the Web

Perhaps the most interesting shift in database marketing has been the fact that the database and a Web microsite can be located on the same server or can be electronically connected so that they seem to be on the same server. What this means is that the database and the microsite are not two separate entities, but part of a single customer response and communication vehicle. Cookies are placed on the customer’s computer so that when she comes to our site, she sees a site that is configured for her, with things that she has requested to see. This is particularly important in business-to-business marketing. For example, Dell began the process by creating Premier Pages for all customers with 400 employees or more.

Dell salespeople contact the purchasing officer at each company and make a volume pricing deal that is hard to refuse: “We will create a Premier Page for your company on the Web. If you get your employees who need Dell products to use this page with passwords controlled by you, we will give them special prices that are not available to the general public. In addition, we will send you monthly reports on what your employees are buying and how much you are saving as a result of your volume pricing deal with Dell.”

Thousands of companies are copying the Dell idea, setting up special Web pages for their best customers. The system builds sales and loyalty. Of course each purchase gets an on-screen thank you and confirmation that can be printed out on the employee’s PC. The employee also gets a simultaneous confirming email, plus another email when the product is shipped. She gets a final email survey a few days later asking if the product has arrived and requesting her opinion of the process. This is powerful database marketing.