Conversion rates for online retailers are typically low, with only 2-3% of visitors converting into customers. Web analytics can help retailers understand visitor behavior and test improvements to drive higher conversion rates. Alienware uses analytics from Omniture to examine marketing effectiveness, visitor paths, and optimize the site to increase conversions by 35% annually.

1. Conversion challenge
Improving conversion is an ongoing
challenge for online retailers, who often
have a difficult time interpreting the
wealth of data available to them in an
J. actionable way.
"The average conversion rates are
anywhere from 2 to 3 percent; in other
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words, 97 out of 100 visitors aren't con-
verting," says Matt Belkin, Omniture's
vice president of best prac-
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tices. "How do retailers fix
that? How do they im-
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prove it? Web analytics
guides customers in that de-
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cision process, enabling them to un-
derstand how different areas like inter-
nal search or category browsing con-
BY KAREN M. KROLL tribute to the business. It also shows, il
there was an improvement in a specific
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iven the vast amount of money
poured into building and marketing e-
area, what that improvement would
likely yield in the future."
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commerce websites, .it's understand- Alienware uses web analytics to exam-
able that retailers would want as ine the types of marketing vehiclesthat
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35 percent annual growth
in unique visitors much information as possible about the site's attract customers to the site, as well as
Record online holiday customers, sales and performance. When that how they move through the site and ul-
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sales retailer conducts most of its business online, site timately make purchase decisions. Hav-
Highly-targeted remarket- analytics become even more critical, particularly ing this information strongly influences
ing campaigns driving as
much as $3 per deployed" where conversion rates are concerned. Alienware's overall strategic direction,
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e-mail as well as its marketing decisions. For
Deep insight into Miami-based Alienware, a manufacturer and retail- example, understanding the behavior of
customers and their
behaviors er of high-performance desktop, notebook, media a customer who responds to a print ad
Real-time reporting that center, server and professional computer systems, versus that of a returning visitor re-
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iQ'lproves decision- transacts approximately 85 percent of its business on- sponding to an e-mail marketing mes-
making line. As the nine-year-old company grew from two sage allows Alienware to frame its mes-
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Improved e-mail childhood friends tinkering with ways to supercharge sage appropriately for each customer.
paign execution and
sis ordinary PCs for optimal gaming use into a $173 mil- To collect Alienware's site analytics,
lion global business, so did Omniture's SiteCatalyst places a small
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the need for a sophisticated web analytics solution. piece of code on each page of its site;that
"As we grew and scaled, it became more impor- web tag collects only the informa-
tant to really understand what our customers were tion Alienware specifies. As con-
sumers navigate through the site,
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looking for and what kind of behavior they were
demonstrating when they came to the brand," says each successive page view is cap-
director of e-commerce and demand generation tured by Site Catalyst - as is
BillBrown. "We look at every visitor as an oppor- where they go upon leaving the
tunity to establish a lifetime relationship, first ac- site, which can often indicate to
quiring them as a prospect, converting them into Alienware whether a consumer is
a paying customer for one of our products, then comparison shopping.
up-selling and cross-sellingthem, making sure all I Web analytics allows Alienware
along that we're satisfying their needs, wants and to test ideas against various seg-
desires." ments of visitor traffic in real time
To accomplish that objective,Alienware turned to - ideas that can be as big as where
one of the pioneers of on-demand web analytics to invest advertising funds or as
technology, Orem, Utah-based Omniture. small as changing the placement or
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...

2. WEB ANALYTICS
wording of a button on the site. Using the data
"As we cater to very discriminating warehouse
customers in a highly competitive mar- In addition to Site-
ketplace, any change in conversion rate Catalyst, Alienware
can be material," says Brown. "Driving uses Omniture Data
each additional transaction has a direct Warehouse to mine the
impact on our top and bottom lines, so analytics data and pull
we look at visitor traffic in a very de- out figures based on specif-
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tailed way to make sure our advertising ic parameters. Whereas Site-
investments are being optimized, that Catalyst is a platform of sum-
they're driving the right kinds of traffic marized data, Data Warehouse
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and they're improving over time." provides more specific informa-
Additionally, web analytics can indi- tion. record holiday season for Alien-
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cate the effectiveness of various site ware, including several days that experi-
functions to the retailer; for example, it enced year-over-year sales gains greater
can show whether the internal search EFFECTIVE than 100 percent.
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function is helping customers find what WEB ANALYTICS
they want and which search terms are Analyzing results
converting best, so the retailer can re-
can show whether Using Site Catalyst and Omniture
configure its home page to feature those internal search Data Warehouse has helped Alienware
items more prominently.
Conversely,if a search term isn't con-
is helping
customers find E not only to improve its conversion rate,
but to define it.
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verting at all, site analytics gives the re- "A lot of web marketers say their site
tailer an opportunity to learn the cause, what they /' conversion rate has gone up and that's
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such as a lack of product selection or a probably true, but the devil is in the de-
"" want ,,'" """,,,/
.
tails," says Brown. "When you look at
broken link, and fix it.
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a premium Alienware system, perhaps
Understanding aban- costing thousands of dollars, it's not as
donment is a key busi- simple as the overall conversion rate be-
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ness function for Alien- cause you need to be able to drill down
ware, as many of these by product and sku level to see where
prospects may be very your success and opportunities for im-
closeto a purchase deci- provement lie.
"Omniture allows us to drill down be-
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sion. Through Omni-
ture's relationship with yond this potentially misleading top-line
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the online advertising statistic and into conversion by product,
and marketing firm and to find the key entry points into the
DoubleClick,Alienware sales cycle and where exit rates occur,"
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can launch an e-mail says Brown.
"remarketing" cam- Overall, Alienware has experienced
paign to that group to 35 percent annual growth in unique vis-
re-engage with them itors since it began working with Ornni-
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and bring them back '. ture three years ago. "What it addsfor
into the sales funnel. , us is the ability to take a real-time snap-
"We're able to see where shot of our business and to understand
"Retailers often organize a multitude the abandonment pages are, and using how our customers are experiencing the
of different categories hierarchically," Data Warehouse and DoubleClick brand, how they're transacting with it
Belkin says. "If you just start looking at DARTmail, we're able to pinpoint who and to make informed decisions that
what categories you're showing on the came through on a unique user basis so have resulted, and continue every day to
home page versus what categories are we can remarket to them," Brown says. result, in improved transaction figures,"
actually converting and drivingthe most One such remarketing campaign, con- Brown says. StORES
revenue, you'd be shocked at how many ducted during the 2005 holiday season,
retailers have poor category organiza- resulted in more than $3 in revenue for Karen M. Kroll is a business writer
tion on their home page." every e-mail sent and contributed to a based in Minnetonka, Minn.
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