I’ve been curious about what kind of effect the economy is having on how companies use Web analytics. Econsultancy just released its “Online Measurement and Strategy Report 2009.” This is its second annual report, and the results are fascinating.

First, the pleasantries:

“Companies are focusing on analytics which help them improve their customer acquisition and customer retention. The recession has helped to bring into sharper focus the importance of understanding return on investment and how individual elements of digital marketing impact the…

...continue to read "Web Analytics and Yellow Lobsters"

Here are the top 10 converting websites for April 2009*. These are based on Nielson Panel data and are calculated by user to final conversion. Conversion-rate data is based on visitor conversion rates, not session conversion rates: i.e., No. of unique customers/No. of unique visitors.

1. ProFlowers 42.8 2. Vitacost.com 28.9 3. Office Depot 25.0 4. MetroStyle 24.5 5. Woman Within 23.0 6. Schwan’s 21.1 7. CDW 20.8 8. 1800Flowers 20.8 9. Landsend 18.8 10. Drs FosterSmith 18.30

*Source: Nielsen Online / Marketing Charts

Benchmarks according to the FireClick Index:

…

...continue to read "Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate: April 2009"

You know the kind of surveys I’m talking about, the ones that ask you to rate something on a scale of 1-5, they are called Likert surveys.  I doubt if anyone actually likes them, but I truly loath them.  Here’s why:

The rating system is too clunky. Most people get stuck between 3 and 4, usually with 4 sounding too good and 3 too wishy-washy, meaning that the results are often more indicative of a temporary mood than an honest difference. Written…

...continue to read "On a Scale From 1 to 5 Surveys Stink. Here’s Why!"

Here are the top 10 converting websites for March 2009*. These are based on Nielson Panel data and are calculated by toolbar user to final conversion. Conversion-rate data is based on visitor conversion rates, not session conversion rates: i.e., No. of unique customers/No. of unique visitors.

1. Schwan’s 50.5 2. FTD 27.2 3. ProFlowers 24.3 4. Vitacost.com 23.7 5. Woman Within 22.7 6. Roaman’s 21.1 7. ColdWater Creek 20.0 8. Eddie Bauer 19.3 9. Blair.com 20.20 10. QVC 17.30

*Source: Nielsen Online / Marketing Charts

Additional March Retail Benchmarks:

The online retail sector in…

...continue to read "Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate: March 2009"

Kudos to Omniture for posting “Survey: Search Marketers Underutilizing Sophisticated Metrics.” It takes guts to stop applauding customers and share some tough love.

According to the Omniture survey:

Marketers picked cost per click and click through rate as among their top metrics to optimize search campaigns instead of deeper metrics such as return on ad spend, cost per customer (or sale) or profit per order 43 percent of e-commerce respondents do not know how to accurately measure profit per customer (or order)…

...continue to read "Dirty Diapers, Shame and Web Analytics"

Here are the top 10 converting websites for February 2009*. These are based on Nielson Panel data and are calculated by toolbar user to final conversion. Conversion-rate data is based on visitor conversion rates, not session conversion rates: i.e., No. of unique customers/No. of unique visitors.

1. Schwan’s 42.10 2. ProFlowers 36.50 3. Quixtar 33.20 4. Vitacost.com 28.90 5. Woman Within 24.20 6. LL Bean.com 20.40 7. Office Depot 20.30 8. Tickets.com 20.20 9. 1800Flowers 17.30 10. QVC 17.10

*Source: Nielsen Online / Marketing Charts

Additional February Retail Benchmarks:

The online retail sector…

...continue to read "Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate: February 2009"

Here are the top 10 converting websites for January 2009*. These are based on Nielson Panel data and are calculated by toolbar user to final conversion. Conversion-rate data is based on visitor conversion rates, not session conversion rates: i.e., No. of unique customers/No. of unique visitors.

1. Schwan’s 52.50 2. ProFlowers 27.30 3. Quixtar 22.40 4. Blair.com 21.80 5. Office Depot 21.10 6. Vitacost.com 20.40 7. DrsFosterSmith.com 20.30 8. FTD.com 20.20 9. Amazon 17.20 10. CDW 16.90

*Source: Nielsen Online / Marketing Charts

This month big surprise came from first time…

...continue to read "Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate: January 2009"

Yesterday, I posted the Missing Google Analytics Manual. That was relatively easy to put together since there are so many wonderful resources already written about it. However, as I tried to put together this post, I realized a real gap in the knowledge base available. I’ll be posting this as an ongoing series, that I might turn into a best practices whitepaper.

The “Voice of the Customer” (VOC), can be obtained in many ways: surveys, reviews, customer requests, interviews,  focus groups,…

...continue to read "The Really Missing “Online Voice of Customer” Manual (Part 1)"

Here are the top 10 converting websites for December 2008*. These are based on Nielson Panel data and are calculated by toolbar user to final conversion. Conversion-rate data is based on visitor conversion rates, not session conversion rates: i.e., No. of unique customers/No. of unique visitors.

1. ProFlowers 31.1% 2. LL Bean 25.7% 3. Amazon 23.7% 4. VitaCost 23.0% 5. Coldwater Creek 22.4% 6. QVC 21.1% 7. Roamans 20.4% 8. Office Depot 20.2% 9. LandsEnd 19.3% 10. Victoria’s Secret 19.2%

*Source: Nielsen Online / Marketing Charts

Additional December Retail Benchmarks:

According to Coremetrics…

...continue to read "Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate: December 2008"

If you’ve been to one of our trainings over the past few years, or seen any of us present at a conference, you’ve probably heard the line about the average tenure of a Chief Marketing Officer being less than the gestation period of an elephant.  Well, it’s time for some new material.  New research from executive search firm Spencer Stuart shows that CMOs are making it into their 3rd year with the same organization, on average, based on a review of…

...continue to read "On CMOs, Customer Service, and Birthing Elephants"