To say that the world of e-commerce is competitive is something of an understatement. Thanks largely to factors like the plethora of data, the web analytics tools, the transparency of pricing and the (relatively) low barrier of entry, new e-commerce websites are popping up all the time – which can be difficult for the ones that were already there.
As is true in any competitive environment, one of your primary goals then becomes separating yourself from the rest of the pack in any way that you can. This is also difficult in e-commerce, as aside from competing on pricing through discount offers and promotions, it can be hard to gain the competitive advantage you need that is truly meaningful to your audience.
Consequently, one of the key ways that brands and retailers have to differentiate themselves from their competitors is to focus on what ultimately matters the most: providing an exceptional consumer experience at all times. Delivering not only a unique shopping experience but an easy and pleasurable one becomes a top priority for capturing new customers, as does growing retentions and referrals.
These objectives require a high level of unique insight into who your visitors are, where they’re coming from, what they’re doing and what they’re looking for. Such insights allow marketers to better engage and connect with the customers in the moments that matter most. Furthermore, tailoring an unique customer experience becomes significantly easier once you embrace live web analytics with open arms.
The Benefits of Live Web Analytics
Enable real-time decisions
The number one benefit of live web analytics is right there in the name – “live”. You’re talking about a mechanism that allows you to monitor real-time traffic, which is particularly helpful during peak seasons or special promotions like “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday.”
If you have access to real-time data like this, you’re suddenly in a much better position to start making real-time decisions. You’re removing as much “guesswork” from the equation as possible – the choices that you make become much more informed and accurate as a result.
This also gives you a chance to react to certain trends and patterns that may have otherwise gone unidentified. If you’ve got a promotion that isn’t working out quite the way you thought it was, you can adjust the nature of that promotional campaign or develop a new strategy as quickly as possible.
Optimize sales funnel
Real-time Web analytics also put you in a better position to understand the engagement level of your e-commerce site, which is information you can feed back into your business to better optimize your sales funnel. Are there specific sections of your site that attract the most visitors? Are there specific pages that are common drop-off points for new shoppers? With the answers to questions like these, you can take action – focusing your attention towards doubling down on what is working and taking steps to correct what isn’t as fast as you can.
Run spontaneous retargeting
Access to this type of live Web Analytics also gives you the ability to pivot with real-time retargeting and promotion. Remember that customers tend to make purchasing decisions within hours, not days – particularly in terms of fast moving product categories. With real-time insights, marketers can react with a laser-focused precision by triggering the most convincing message or the most rewarding offer at the precise point decisions are made.
If someone has an item in their shopping cart and is spending a lot of time researching shipping and return information, you can reasonably assume that this is a point of contention for them. With real-time insight, you can trigger a message of “Free Shipping on All Orders of $X or More” – thus giving them the opportunity to get down off the fence and make that purchase.
In the End
We’re living in an era where “data” as a concept is growing faster than ever before. According to one study, more data was created in the past two years alone than in all of human history combined up to this point. Forbes predicts that by as soon as 2020, it is predicted that there will be 1.7 megabytes of new data created for every human on Earth every second.
But data alone is meaningless – it’s a series of 1s and 0s stored within the bowels of a hard drive or server. The story beneath that e-commerce metrics and data – what those 1s and 0s are trying to tell you about your business, your customers and your relationship between the two – is the “bigger picture” that you’re trying to unlock.
This, in essence, is what real-time Web analytics and statistics is all about. They’re a way to process that data and make sense of it, unlocking the valuable insights hidden underneath in real-time. They’re about putting the actionable information you need directly into your hands where it belongs, allowing you not only to work “smarter, not harder” – but to make the right decisions for the right market at the right time, every time.
At ContactPigeon, we specialize in the types of real-time Web analytics that are not only tailored for e-commerce environments, but that are customizable and scalable with your business in mind. Our goal is to apply e-commerce best practices and make sure information about traffic volume, unique visitors, referring sources of traffic and so much more is never more than a few quick mouse clicks away. To find out more about our services, or to get more information about the benefits of real-time Web analytics in general, please don’t delay – contact ContactPigeon today.
