For a while, at-least
until I became cognitive of online marketing tools and their existence, I was
awestruck at how shopping websites, my emails, pop up random ads about stuff
that I had browsed the previous day or even earlier. Maybe I was way behind on technology
awareness and the innovations that were going around in the web world. I was
indeed late to the understanding that online marketing had evolved as a giant
and was increasing to be the predominant marketing tool being used. I realized
that there was some kind of tracking, but wasn’t sure how or what that was. It
was not until the last two weeks from my research on “Web Analytics” and the
class, did I understand the in depth focus of eCommerce web sites in using such
analysis techniques and putting them to use. This, I thought, was very
beneficial to me, as a consumer to not lose sight of the product that I am
interested to buy. It also provided a platform for me to look for better prices
as it provided comparisons between websites that offered a product.
Without much knowledge
on web analytics methodology, I believed this was a great way to sell a product
even when the consumer’s initial reason to visit the website was not to
purchase it. Websites were converting random shoppers to potential buyers and
doing it more often. All this was being done with the help of data collected from
other buyers and analyzed to help the website formulate good positioning
strategies for its products. All this while, the buyer is not aware that
information pertaining to his/her purchase, interests, patterns are being
recorded and simultaneously being used to generate suggestions for additional
purchases from the website.
Initially, the
thought of some tracking seemed fascinating, but the fact that you are being
monitored constantly, 24/7, without you knowing about it seemed disturbing. Looking
at some of the stats provided on a website1, it seemed imperative
that analysts want to explore web option effectively.
1. 82%
of US adult population spends just over an hour a day on internet.
2. Most
of this time is spent on social networking, searching and reading.
3. Off
these, 71% purchase products on the internet.
4. 76%
of online consumers base their purchasing decision on reviews provided on the
product.
Considering the enormous consumer traffic
present online and the hoards of data that is available for analysts, it seems
to be a natural choice. But, how much of it is being used properly and how much
of it is legal is a question that has been asked since its inception. Several laws
such as the SIGEU White Paper on Privacy Compliance3, Stearns
consumer privacy protection plan2, etc. have been established to
keep a check on the collection and distribution of this data. It becomes more
concerning when companies collect data but do not use it properly as indicated by
one of the websites5. In such a scenario, how much is web analytics
really helping and who is it helping? Is gaining more knowledge on what data is
needed and how to interpret and analyze it going to answer this question!
References:
Good Job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Steven.. My first ever attempt on writing a blog.. Hopefully it will improve with better quality than quantity..
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