It was like Groundhog Day. I had the same conversation over and over and over again. I was at the Shop.org Summit in New York. It was a record breaking crowd, over 2200 attendees. I talked to a whole bunch of those online retailers and everyone was saying basically the same thing …

“I want to know what my customers are doing on my website. I’m finding more and more ways to gather data. I have my SEO firm giving me reports, I have competitive intelligence groups giving me reports, I have my web analytics team giving me reports, I have in house research teams giving me reports. But how do I analyze all that data and turn it into customer insight that is actionable. How can I use all this data to increase my sales?”

There’s more ….

I have more data than I know what to do with, but when we try to do things to increase sales, the first thing we do is go out and get even more data. Is the problem we don’t have enough data or we don’t have the right data?

Everyone in management gets these rich, detailed web analytics reports every week – but what no one is willing to admit is, no one reads them. I mean, what the heck are all those numbers anyway?

These are questions many seasoned online retailers are asking. You may be asking the same questions yourself. What data will give me the best insight into my customers? Which data is most useful? And how can I take that data and turn it into increased sales?

All valid questions, but here’s the problem … while this data tells you what your customers are doing, it doesn’t tell you why they are doing it.

Read the rest of this article.
Read the entire newsletter: Volume 141

Let’s pretend for a moment that your analytics reports are lying to you. (It’s nothing personal; they just don’t always see the big picture.)

Now think about a few key questions: Do you know what percentage of online visitors your business converts into offline customers? How many offline sales have you lost from bad online experiences and vice versa? How depressing and/or exciting would it be if you could accurately measure such things? Would you rather have more business or more data?

Okay, don’t answer that last one. Let’s talk about the others.

If there’s any offline component to your business’s online sales process whatsoever-from cold call leads for complex B2B sales to moving consumer goods in brick-and-mortar stores-your website should be anticipating and answering potential questions for potential customers. One thing is certain: your customers/clients/whatevers don’t care which channel they used to find you. In their minds, your brand is some combination of how you’ve treated them and how they’ve perceived your actions. Although brand perceptions tend to ebb and flow over time, an exceptionally good or bad experience-regardless of the medium-can quickly tip the scales.

Read the rest of this article.
Read the entire newsletter: Volume 141