How
a Web Retailer Can Use Analytic Applications to Improve Their Sales
AutopartsWarehouse.com
Case Study
AutopartsWarehouse.com (USAP) is an online retailer
that utilizes web analytics to boost their sales and website’s performance. I
will explain a few tools they have already implemented with great results and
then make some suggestions of other tools they might use for further success.
In 2012, USAP hired Experian CheetahMail and
Omniture to combine their technologies in order to implement a “ReMarketing
program.” This entailed taking the behavioral data collected from user visits
and creating targeted e-mail messaging that reflected users’ browsing habits
(Experian.com, 2012, para. 1).
So, for example, if during a session a user scrolled
through fenders,
then moved over to
garage tools and clicked on a couple of products, but ultimately did not
purchase, an email would automatically be generated and sent to the visitor. The
email would contain photos and links to the fenders they looked at and the garage
tools they clicked on. To further entice a sale, the email might offer a
discount or free shipping. (It should be
noted that if the user did not register or log in, then an email could not be
sent. However, behaviorally targeted ads featuring the specific items they
clicked on could be generated on other websites the user visits, as seen below.)
Similarly, if the user put items into a shopping
cart, but then abandoned the cart, the data would trigger a message like this one
to be sent to the customer:
The ReMarketing campaign brought “significant lifts
to the transaction rates, clickthroughs, and most importantly, revenue per
email” (Experian.com, 2012, para. 1).
Further
Analytic Solutions
While the targeted emails and cart abandonment
initiatives are powerful solutions, there are three more applications I would include
in the Autopartswarehouse.com analytics mix. Each one adds further illumination
into the user experience that will boost the ROI on marketing initiatives.
Phone
Call Tracking
First, I would add phone call tracking. Because this
is a retailer which sells technical and specialized items, a fair amount of
customers are going to need to talk to an actual person to have specific
questions answered. If the customer picks up the phone, a call tracking application
can provide the trail of breadcrumbs between the digital marketing efforts of
the company and how the customer finds the company. Closing this loop is
essential for this retailer because without thorough knowledge of which efforts
are working, and how well, the marketing department cannot accurately allocate resources.
How
Call Tracking Works
Call tracking is rather ingenious. The telephone
number displayed on the website is actually dynamic and changes depending on
the referring site or particular keyword used that brings the visitor to the
site. These dynamic phone numbers act as tracking tags and when the user dials
the number it is collected as part of the site’s analytic data. This data on
the keywords and referring websites is valuable because it will provide a more complete
and reliable picture of the robustness of the marketing efforts.
Infinity Call Tracking and Easy Call Tracker are
just two of many phone call tracking providers that work seamlessly with Google
Analytics.
Video
Recording & Tracking
Another solution I would employ into Auto Parts
Warehouse analytics program is a video recording application, like Session Cam
or Mouse Flow. This would provide the
ability to record and replay individual users’ website sessions which would
allow analysts to gain deeper, more actionable insights by correlating actual
visits with the data collected. I will explain by example.
When a new visitor goes to the Auto Parts Warehouse
site, they have to fill in the type of vehicle they are looking for parts for.
They can then click on any number of departments from the drop down menu
beneath it.
Until I registered with the site, I had to keep
re-entering the vehicle type every time I went to a new page. It was frustrating
and time consuming. If I was a busy Auto Parts Store Manager looking to buy
from a new retailer, I may not keep entering the data. I may just find another site
to shop. An application like Session Cam would be invaluable in this kind of
situation where the data is showing new visitors staying a few minutes on the
site, viewing a couple of pages, but then consistently, inexplicably exiting. The
video playback would clearly demonstrate the poor functionality and the reason
for all the new visitor exits. The functionality could be fixed and results
could be clearly measured.
Social
Media Management
The last tool I would add to Auto Parts Warehouse
analytics mix is a social media analytics tool like Sprout Social, Argyle
Social or Campalyst. Auto Parts Warehouse maintains pages on Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest and Google+. Updating content, managing conversations, tracking
mentions across the web are time consuming initiatives. In order to streamline
efforts and put time and money into the content and channels that garner the
greatest results, the company needs to closely analyze the impact of their
social media strategies. With a social media management application, they can
integrate their social media efforts and gain insights into how their social
media efforts are affecting their ROI.
Most social media applications allow a company to
manage all of their social accounts from one dashboard as well as see their
website traffic in comparison to their social media activity. Campalyst goes so far as to boast that it can
“track fans and followers from a like or a tweet on the social network up to a
purchase on the company's website” (Campalyst Inc., 2012, para. 1).
Regardless of the social media analytics application
you choose, it has to integrate seamlessly with your analytics provider, and
more importantly, be easy for you to use and understand.
Adding
the Right Solutions
While this post focused on Auto Parts Warehouse, the
implications for other online retailers should be clear. Getting the right
tools to capture the right data to provide actionable insights is what
analytics is all about. It is truly amazing what collecting and analyzing data
can tell you about your customers and your website functionality. While there
are hundreds of worthwhile applications out there to explore, choosing the
right ones for your needs is essential. As remarkable as this new data intelligence
is, it does not magically boost your bottom line. To get dividends from your
data, you need to apply the right solutions.
References:
U.S. Auto Parts combines online analytics with email
marketing to boost campaign performance. (n.d.) Experian.com. Retrieved from http://www.experian.com/cheetahmail/case-studies-us-auto-parts.html