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:

Campalyst Inc. (2012, March 22) Campalyst. Google.com. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/analytics/apps/about?app_id=1626001.

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