<\/p>\n

In one sense I am a strong proponent of this new acuity of data as an antidote to the nauseating levels of mass advertising that have plagued us for the better part of a century. However, I also believe an overly data-centric approach to retail will have an anesthetizing effect on our online shopping experiences, increasingly sapping them of the exhilaration of accidental discovery.<\/p>\n

Consider that not so long ago, the internet was largely untamed and very often seemed to propel us randomly into an ever-expanding universe of discovery – people, places and things we\u2019d never before given thought to, could be stumbled upon in an exciting way. Now, it seems, we simply get wound into tighter circles of sameness, driven by a logic that we can\u2019t see, don\u2019t fully understand and that often seems not to understand us. Instead of expanding our options, the universe of possibilities seems to contract.<\/p>\n