According to new Whitepaper by the e-tailing group and Baynote, among surveyed merchants rating their top merchandising and navigational tactics for customer retention, evaluating analytics to see what works topped the list with 93% of retailers recording a top-2 score (most important/somewhat important). In fact, 61% rated it as “most important,” sending a clear message about the mission critical nature of “Measurements: to understand how merchants are thinking about metrics today, and futuristically.” Top merchandising and Navigational Tactics Needed for Customer RetentionTactic% of Respondents Rating Most/Somewhat Important Analytics to see what works 93% Pricing or promotional strategies 81 Site redesign or enhancements 79 Easier online search relevance/options 79 Right in-stock assortment 76 Email on pre-established frequency 76 Usability testing 71 Rich media 64 Editorial, expert reviews, user content 62 Elevated brand differentiation 54 Social media elevation 44 Source: e-tailing group 2012 Merchant Survey, April 2012 The whitepaper, “Metrics Therapy– Details, Dashboards and Diligence.” released on 4/23 by eTailing/Baynote Metrics, belies a “brief” Research Brief, but perhaps a glance at some relevant findings and an “almost” TOC will lead interested readers to link to additional detail found in the complete report. Most merchants struggle to maintain the right measurements to drive business, including having ample resources to review statistics in the detail necessary for wise decision-making, says the introduction. As devices and social dynamics accelerate, metrics are emerging to meet the needs of marketers. As cross-channel selling plays a more integral role for retailers and tracking across touch-points becomes even more crucial, this topic is explored in the study. Taking a holistic view of the numbers and one’s customers will be imperative as competition remains fierce and consumers continually demand more in their shopping experiences, says the report. The study addresses the most important metrics for running a business. Five key areas emerge, with suggested subsets, with “profit”the one universally constant across channels, making it the weightiest metric. Key Business Measurement NeedsBusiness CategoryMetric Subsets Business Profitability, EBIDTA, Margin (gross/product), Year/year performance, Net Operating Income Channel Traffic, Visitors, Conversion, Revenue, AOV, Items per order, Customer Satisfaction, Performance by trading area Marketing Customer acquisition cost, List size, Traffic source, ROI on marketing programs, Sales per email, Engagement, B2C: # of new customers, B2B: Active accounts, Retention, # of new accounts Merchandising Inventory and turn, Top sellers, Laggards, Performance by brand Operational Load time Source: e-tailing group 2012 Merchant Survey, April 2012 Conversion continues to get significant attention within business units and among senior management as this singular number serves as a critical directional indicator. Beginning with insights from the Annual Merchant Survey, 52% of merchants are seeing conversion in the 1-3% range. Relative to 2011, these results indicate that somewhat lower conversion rates are being seen across-the-board. Experienced Conversion Rates Among Survey Respondents (% of Respondents) Conversion Rate% of Respondents 0 to <1 7% 1.0-2.9 52 3.0-4.9 15 5.0-7.9 15 8.0-20.0 6 >20% 1 Don’t know 4 Source: e-tailing group 2012 Merchant Survey, April 2012 When asking over the course of the past year (2011), “How have the following key metrics been tracking,” 60% of participating merchants reported somewhat/significant increases in conversion. Similar stories throughout the interviews were found as merchants continue to refine the customer experience and drive more qualified traffic to the site, where positive results are forthcoming. Key Metrics Tracked in 2011 (Significantly/Somewhat Increased; % of respondents) Metric TrackedIncrease Trend (% of Respondents) Revenue 86% Traffic to site 81 Average order size 65 Conversion 60 Units per order 47 Source: e-tailing group 2012 Merchant Survey, April 2012 The report expands on understanding these metrics in the context of individual businesses: