Amazon About You shows how far we’ve advanced in how we understand our customers. And how customers can tweak it.
Released in May, About You is a collection of information that Amazon has assembled about you, based upon online sources.
Why? Because Amazon wants to sell you stuff that you like.
How? “Your Amazon shopping experience is personalized through information including your conversations with Alexa for Shopping, product reviews you’ve authored, your purchase history, items you’ve saved to Lists, and your searches.”
Of course, when this is implemented poorly, someone who just bought an expensive refrigerator will receive offers to purchase more expensive refrigerators. Hey, we aren’t all Eddie Murphy…I mean Tracy Morgan.
Now this got some bad press because some of the things people are finding in their Amazon About You profiles are a little forward. “Has flat buttocks.” “Has no friends.” Ouch.
But Amazon lets you change your profile.
“Previously, customers could update recommendation preferences or edit browsing history to customize their search results. Now, About You gives customers a single place to view and edit their preferences, creating a more comprehensive way to tailor their shopping experience.”
And if you don’t want to navigate to the page you can just ask Alexa for Shopping “What do you know about me?” Sometimes. I tried this on the mobile app, but it didn’t know about my past purchases.
