Two of my favorite addictions are books and clothes. So it follows that my "websites of choice" are Amazon and Nordstrom.  Both sites handle incredibly high volumes of traffic. Both employ some of the most sophisticated technology available in e-commerce today. But here is the one important difference:  One thrills me and lures me to buy and the other functions as a search engine for what I'm already looking for.

Perhaps it's because Amazon promises that they can anticipate my book selections by calling out to me, "Hello Annette.  We have recommendations for you."  But given all the buying history they have about me, you'd think they'd have more creative intelligence about what I'd like to buy. They consistently disappoint. No, I'm not interested in buying, The No *** Rule or a camping mess kit.  When I click on the link, I feel like I'm listening to a scorned lover.  "I'll be whatever you need me to be, just love me!"  Clearly they are trying hard, but there is no chemistry.

Contrast Nordstom.  They welcome me with a homepage that looks like a piece of art. An aesthetic gift anytime of the day or night. They show me items that I haven't imagined, yet I want with a passion. Since I buy more books than clothes, they have less information about my purchasing habits than Amazon, but I don't sense they need to use it.  Nordstrom's acts as what I call a DEW marketer - a Distant Early Warning - a business scout that tells me what's ahead that I need to know about.  New details in styling, upcoming color palettes - just like PBS, Nordstrom's informs and inspires. 

The chasm between these two models of e-commerce highlights the limitations of working from knowledge alone.  Terry Teachout of Wall Street Journal's art's section this weekend noted the accumulation of knowledge effects our appreciation of the artistic experience.  Teachout quoted literary critic R.P. Blackmur, "knowledge itself is a fall from the paradise of undifferentiated sensation."  It's the undifferentiated, mystical, magical, sensation that imagination delivers and is the intersection between art and business.  It's the imagination that creates the chemistry customers want.  When we get tangled up our information underwear, IT specialists, marketers, strategists, CEO's - every business person -misses the opportunity to deliver an experience that inspires.