How Data Drives Visits to Major E-commerce Websites

 

 Kaushal Thakkar 

 Kaushal Thakkar, Founder & MD, Infidigit Consultants

Three decades ago, who would have thought that the products for which we travelled to brick-and-mortar stores, would be bought without moving an inch? That is the change that E-commerce brought about in our lives. But it didn’t just impact the way we shop; it also influenced the way businesses sell. 

In recent years, online stores have been growing at a much faster rate than brick and mortar establishments in India. The impressive effectiveness of the E-commerce medium is fuelled by the management of big data, opening up new possibilities across multiple industries. For instance, data used to target sales and marketing cultivated stronger customer relations, which translated to brand loyalty.

According to a report, the data market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30.08% from 2020 to 2023, which would equate to $77.6 billion worldwide, which is more than double the value four years ago. So how does data play a role in driving visits to E-commerce websites? Read on to find out. Here’s how data analysis is driving visits to E-commerce sites at a lightning pace.

Target Users with Effective Marketing Campaigns

It is now possible for online retailers to create a ‘journey’ for every visitor by recording every touch, click, and engagement time during their online sessions. This information is gathered to glean an in-depth understanding of the user journey flow, right from the source through which the platform was visited, product preferences to user navigation pattern. This data is then collated and utilised to create campaigns that reach the right demographic at the right time. This is often aided by ads of recently searched items that they have shown an interest in.

It helps that India is a rapidly growing online population with some reports suggesting that the country has the world’s largest Facebook population. Social media management platform giant, Hootsuite, also claims that the average Facebook user has clicked at least 6 ads in the last 30 days.

 

“While there will be many visitors to a platform, not all of them convert to becoming a customer right away. However, once a targeted marketing campaign is deployed, steps must be taken to ensure repeated visits occur often, and any marketer will tell you that it is easier to sell to someone who is already a customer, than it is to a new one.”

--Kaushal Thakkar, Founder & MD, Infidigit Consultants

 

But while there will be many visitors to a platform, not all of them convert to becoming a customer right away. However, once a targeted marketing campaign is deployed, steps must be taken to ensure repeated visits occur often, and any marketer will tell you that it is easier to sell to someone who is already a customer, than it is to a new one.

Discover the Importance and Usage of Relevant Tools

In an offline setup, customer information can only be used in limited ways because the person’s movements are largely unknown to the brand, outside their store. But the ingenious labyrinth of the Web makes it possible to use tools such as Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics to identify details like the source of visit of a potential customer without compromising their privacy. It basically means that if a manager has found that return visits are highest on Organic Search (SEO), then resources may be redirected to this particular channel, and so on.

Another effective tool that I recommend is Mouse Flow, which provides a deeper understanding of user behaviour on a website. Real-time updated mouse heat maps indicate where users hover and click the most, registering a clear picture of an individual’s navigation experience

Another effective tool that I recommend is Mouse Flow, which provides a deeper understanding of user behaviour on a website. Real-time updated mouse heat maps indicate where users hover and click the most, registering a clear picture of an individual’s navigation experience. Analysing user behaviour would help you to take corrective measures, and increase the chances of sale. i.e. conversion rate optimisation.

Personalise and Create a Memorable Shopping Experience

With the rise of E-commerce analytics, businesses do not have to worry about losing the all-essential connection with their customers. Just as a personal shopper would, the user is now shown similar variants of the product, within the category they are looking for. This measure enables them to make a comparison and an informed decision.

They can also choose to wish list or save items for later, which once again is data that may be used to send out customised ads in a timely manner to encourage lead conversion. These marketing activities strengthen the customer’s bond with the brand, which then increases the chances of users visiting the website repeatedly.

Define and Understand the Affinity of Products

When big data is analysed with the help of various tools, there are patterns of buyer behaviour that emerge. These patterns help marketers and E-commerce companies study the affinity of products, which is essentially the suggestion of related items once the potential customer has searched a particular product.

For instance, data from users purchasing kurtas, points to them having a preference for drop earrings versus those who order shirts who would prefer stud earrings instead. It is much like when a salesperson in a shop displays a matching handbag for the dress a user may have already selected. Many E-commerce websites take this a step further and create look boards for customers to buy a bundle of products at once, to achieve the desired ensemble.

Use Optimal Pricing for a Happier Customer

Unlike in the past, when potential buyers had to manually visit one shop after the other in order to get the best deal, today they can get similarly amazing deals from the comfort of their home. This not only makes competitive pricing a crucial factor in the buying decision but also amplifies the need to manage big data for maximum efficacy.

With numerous ecommerce ventures mushrooming on a daily basis, it would not be practicable to check each one of them for price variations. However, the correct data collection tool allows businesses to collect this information in a categorised format. This is a reliable reference on which a company may rely for pricing decisions and remain the first pick of customers.

Take Advantage of the Benefits of Channel Optimisation

There are many popular offline channels through which a customer eventually reaches the store such as hoardings, brochures, commercials and the likes. Similarly, there are various channels at a company’s disposal in the digital space such as Google search, social media, blogs, video content, email, mobile support channels etc. Data that is collected via these channels is then processed to enhance them and improve customer experience, user engagement and revenue growth.

In the case of Organic Search (SEO), potential buyers enter the product they wish to buy on Google or other search engines. Then, they visit the suggested E-commerce sites. In most cases, it is not likely that they would look through the second or third pages of the search result. Instead, most people click on the first few results only, so being featured among them is of utmost importance. It is here again that the right type of data can help a brand optimise its site and rank higher on search results. Improve Your Platform’s User Interface

Every E-commerce platform relies on the design of their website which should ideally enable convenient navigation for all visitors. But to know whether a particular layout is conducive to a better flow or if it has to be changed entirely or tweaked is only possible after taking a closer look at the data available.

Improving the User Interface on a website also helps in gaining more repeat visits and also helps you to rank better in Organic search. In a recent study conducted by Infidigit, it was found that removing noticeable interstitial (popup screens) ads from a particular E-commerce website improved the average ranking of their keywords by 10%. Making such changes based on data, resulted in an increase in organic visits for one of India’s most popular E-commerce stores by a whopping 116%, within the span of a single year.

Practice Predictive Analytics for a Smarter Shopping Experience It is every online retailer’s dream to be able to put their finger on the next possible best-selling product before their competitors do. Doing so will automatically make the brand a preferred choice, especially with early adopters.

To be able to do this successfully, businesses can apply specific forecasting algorithms that comb through social media posts, web browsing habits of users and more. This data can be used to predict the next big product or assess which products are most discussed or causing a stir online. In order to determine whether products are being talked about in a negative or positive manner, online retailers can even take things up a notch with sentiment analysis tools.

Concluding Thoughts

According to Statista, India is expected to show the fastest growth in retail E-commerce between 2018 and 2022. At this point, every business aims to have the maximum online traffic being diverted towards their web store. But this cannot be a one-time occurrence because the window between visitors becoming customers is a small one. Hence, the relevance of big data management is paramount for all E-commerce websites with its far-reaching benefits.

The need of the hour is deploying the necessary analytics tools that will let data guide a brand’s marketing, supply chain and customer relationship management decisions in a way that ensures a better long-term customer conversion rate. It is a sure means of building a business that not only profits but also endures. In all, it is a win-win situation when data drives customers to an E-commerce website.

The author is Founder & MD, Infidigit Consultants