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Web Analytics, Who's Mining the Store?
By James Maguire
November 24, 2004

At this point in the evolution of e-commerce, virtually all online businesses have some form of Web analytics package. These applications, which allow you to track your shoppers' on-site behavior, are used by mom-and-pop e-commerce operations as well as Fortune 500 companies.

The issue now, experts say, is getting the most out of this software. The difference between merely owning a package and truly benefitting from it can be the difference between an anemic bottom line and robust yearly sales.

The biggest Web analytics decision you face is, who is going to be responsible for it? What set of eyes is assigned the task of following the data, week after week, sharing it with the proper personnel?

Web Analytics: A User's Guide, Part 1

A primer on the all-important science of tracking your e-commerce site's user behavior to improve your bottom line.

JupiterMedia analyst Eric Peterson, an expert in Web analytics, notes that too many companiess say, "we'll just have the Web master, or some junior marketing person, 'watch it,' and hopefully that will work." However, hoping usually is not enough. "The reality is that almost always doesn't work."

While companies that use their analytics software on a casual basis may find interesting data, mining the data for maximum advantage requires assigning a full-time staff member to it. This employee must truly "own" the data — and the responsibility for disseminating it throughout your business.

A Little Bit Tech, a Little Bit Marketing
The employee you choose should have a specific set of skills. "It's usually not an IT person or a developer — those people are downstream consumers," Peterson said. "You want to have someone who understands the analytics application and your business's needs, so they can provide insight to your Web masters, marketers, merchandisers and IT staff."

This analytics staffer must be able to straddle two worlds, technology and marketing. The individual needs basic familiarity with HTML and Web development so they can explain why or how — technically — a page needs to be changed in response to the data. On the other hand, the analyst must have a strong business or marketing background. After all, business insight is really what deciphering analytics data is all about.

In addition to a healthy blend between technology and business, the analytics expert must have "a strong demonstrated history of working with cross-functional teams," Peterson notes. In other words, they need to be fluent in the language of both IT and business people.

"Being able to straddle the fence between business and IT — which are notoriously antagonistic — really helps," he said.

Also essential, this expert must have enough authority in the organization — or report to a senior person — so that hir or her insights carry weight. Ideally, this analyst would report to the vice president of marketing or operations to discuss which departments should get which data segments. "Anecdotally, we see this as being very successful," Peterson said.

If the analyst isn't empowered, "you've got an expensive application that isn't doing anything," he said. The greatest data in the world helps nobody, if only one person knows about it. Yet even marginal data, shared widely, helps the entire enterprise, "because at least it gets people thinking critically about the data, and how it helps you."

Ideally, this employee can be hired from within the company. In fact, this may be a necessity: Web analytics is still new enough so that there are few real experts, and most veteran analysts are already employed. "These people are very difficult to find," Peterson said.

Companies may balk at hiring an analyst, he notes, however, "if they're the right people, they're smart, and you empower them, the return on investment should be very strong."

Continued on Page Two: Analyzing Analytics Vendors.

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