Many online retailers need better ways to quantify their return on investment, a new survey by the e-tailing group inc.
Eighty-four percent of the sites surveyed said site traffic and sales were how they measured their success. But 14% of respondents could not identify customer conversion rates and nearly half (43%) could not provide shopping cart abandonment numbers.
The survey was based on feedback from over 200 senior executives who completed the e-tailing group’s 1Q 2003 questionnaire, “The Merchant Speaks.”
Eighty percent of surveyed merchants use email for store or product promotions, and 70% use email to highlight full-price products or seasonal messaging. Only 40% used it for branding purposes.
Opt-in and opt-out strategies were reported used in varying ways depending upon specific objectives: 37% elect to have customers opt-in, 19% prefer opt-out and 40% use a combination of both.
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