Web retailers that use analytics are expanding their use of the application to measure other aspects of their e-commerce operation such as site performance, says a recent research brief from Forrester Research Inc.
The brief, which included a survey of upcoming web analytics trends for 2007, also notes that companies are using more hosted applications than off-the-shelf software. “Compared with 2005, many more panelists plan to keep spending on licensing software flat, and far fewer are planning spending increases of any type,” writes Forrester analyst Megan Burns.
The research note, which included survey results from a panel of about 50 companies on their plans for web analytics in 2007, notes that the majority of companies will use analytics to conduct more A/B testing and extend analytics to measure other e-commerce business metrics such as site performance and remote usability testing.
“As business users become more sophisticated in their use of analytics tools and professional analysts spend more time on experimental design projects such as A/B testing, companies will need better tools for analysis and experimentation,” writes Burns. “While vendors such as Omniture have begun to build capabilities in these areas, they’ll need to do more to keep up with leading-edge clients. Vendors that don’t yet offer these features must catch up quickly to stay in the game.”
The survey of the Forrester analytics panel found that web retailers and others plan to increase their spending on a variety of analytics-related programs, including paid search, natural search, A/B testing, end-user training, professional services, online surveys, site performance monitoring and remote usability testing.
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