The importance of conversion metrics measurement is sinking in with more retailers, according to a recent survey by analytics provider WebTrends and eMarketer. At the Ad: Tech San Francisco conference last month, a survey of 342 marketers attending revealed that only 24% didn’t know their online conversion rates.
That’s a drop from a February 2003 survey in which 66% said they didn’t know. According to WebTrends, the drop indicates that while online measurements still remain a mystery to some marketers, marketers are generally becoming more sophisticated about web metrics.
In addition, 76% of marketers surveyed knew at least an estimate of their average conversion rates. The largest share, nearly 30% of those responding, reported conversion rates of between 4% and 10%. About 27% cited conversion rates of 0% to 3%, while 14.4% reported high rates of 11% to 20%. A small number, 5.7%, reported conversion rates exceeding 21%. A surprising 22% said they still do not measure online ad results and 24% said they did not “have the foggiest idea” about their online conversion rates.
To increase conversion rates, WebTrends recommends that online marketers continually test options and analyze the results on their sites. Reports such as conversion funnel analytics can offer additional insight by indicating where visitors are dropping off and why. WebTrends notes that the application of the test and measure strategy to optimize retail sites can produce significantly better results. Marketer Royal Appliance, for example, makers of the Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner, uses the process to continually optimize shipping costs, promotions and other parts of the online shopping track on its site, and it has an average conversion rate of 18%, according to WebTrends.
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