Shop.com: An E-Commerce Retailer Case Study

 

Shop.com is an e-commerce retailer that offers a comprehensive shopping experience on the web. According to the company’s Web site, you can compare the best online stores on the web in terms of price, shipping methods, and delivery schedule options to determine which works best for your needs and budget (Shop.com). This helps provide a more complete picture of all shopping options all in one place so there is no need to go to multiple stores.

Shop.com

Since the company delivers curated advice from shopping experts to save shoppers money, measuring site and product performance is critical. Shop.com previously used Adobe SiteCatalyst to monitor visitor traffic and customers, but experienced many challenges with the service. These challenges included in-house development tools that were too complex, high annual costs and maintenance, cost prohibitive training, incomplete reporting, and limited visibility into performance of SEM traffic sources (Google.com).

The company switched their Web analytics platform to Google Analytics because it was free, easier to use, and was fully configured to gain actionable insights. One of Google Analytics’ certified partners, Blast Advanced Media, worked with the Shop.com to understand their business goals and analysis objectives and develop a custom tracking strategy for easy access to reports containing actionable insight.

According to Google, “the transition to a custom Google Analytics configuration met all of their existing reporting needs as well as met new reporting goals that weren’t previously available. Shop.com gained better visibility into their many SEM traffic sources and millions of products in their marketplace. The end result was a successful implementation that exceeded Shop.com’s expectations (Google.com).

With Google Analytics fully implemented, Shop.com now has the information they need to make timely business decisions in order to improve their on-site experience and conversions. The platform now provides many benefits to the site including:

• Free access to data with no ongoing yearly licensing fee
• Custom reporting, conversion funnel and analysis features with no cost, saving Shop.com thousands of dollars
• Fully integrated multiple Google AdWords accounts, providing consolidated insight to the marketing team
• A more intuitive interface
• Reduced training costs
• Ease of access to information for multiple departments
• Easy to setup separate data views for those with limited access levels

(Google.com).

Additional Tools for Shop.com

There are many additional tools and data collection methods that Shop.com could use to improve their overall web analytic efforts. These tools and data collection methods include the following:

Chartio: According to the GA summary page, Chartio provides a great visualization interface for data. Connecting GA to Chartio is easy with just a simple one-click authorization. Once connected, you can use Chartio to “go far beyond Google’s own interface to work with your data, building custom visualizations of your site traffic and conversions through an intuitive drag-and-drop interface” (Google.com). 

You can also use Chartio “alongside the world’s most popular databases” and “build entire dashboards of data from different sources, and even layer disparate data from the same chart” (Google.com). The app really improves the way companies can visualize data.

Shopalytic: Since Shop.com is an e-commerce retailer, having a tool like Shopalytic that will send detailed reports and infographics on sales data would be useful to the company. According to the Google app summary page, “Shopalytic turns your key Google Analytics E-commerce metrics into easy-to-understand reports and infographics. You can subscribe to a variety of reports and have them delivered to your inbox every week, month, or quarter (Google.com).

Custora: Another tool that could help Shop.com is an application called Custora. According to the Google app summary page, “Custora helps retailers understand who their best customers are, where they come from, and how to keep them coming back. Custora brings predictive power to your Google Analytics data. Segment your customers by Campaign, Source, Medium, Keyword (and more) to find out where your best customers come from” (Google.com).

Barillance Behavioral Targeting: Along with Shopalytic and Custora, Shop.com could also benefit from implementing the Barillance Behavioral Targeting application. This tool “allows e-commerce marketers to extract under performing customer segments from GA data and increase the conversion rates of these segments by showing them relevant and personalized messages and offers” (Google.com). With this tool, Shop.com can create a more personalized shopping experience for their customers, which will in turn increase their conversion rates.

Sprout Social: Shop.com will need an application to help them with social media engagement and generate social analytics reports. Sprout Social is an excellent, low-cost service that will help the company do just that. The platform helps companies effectively manage social channels and provides an exceptional customer experience. By integrating with Shop.com’s Google Analytics, the company will be able to see their web traffic in relation to their social media activity on a single dashboard (Google.com).

According to PC World, “The thing that makes SproutSocial stand out is the clarity of its interface and its general simplicity. Feature-wise, it's just as useful as Nimble, and even better than MultiMi or HootSuite, but unlike these well-known services, SproutSocial has almost no learning curve, and is a joy to use from the second you open an account to the minute you finish working for the day” (Lancet, 2013).

Moz Analytics: All e-commerce websites can benefit from SEO and social media optimization software in order to effectively increase web traffic and sales, especially when up against stiff competition. Moz Analytics is one of the best tools Shop.com can use to improve their SEO and social media efforts. The platform allows marketers to track their online content, search marketing, social activity, brand mentions, and inbound links all on one platform (Moz.com).  When integrated with Google Analytics data, Moz has the ability to track and rank keyword searches and traffic (Patel, 2013).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Shop.com has already seen a lot of success with the implementation of its web analytics platform, Google Analytics. With the addition of several tools and data collection methods such as Chartio, Shopalytic, Custora, Barillance Behavioral Targeting, Sprout Social, and Moz Analytics, the company will be able to improve their overall web analytics efforts. Shop.com will also be able to increase sales and web traffic with these tools, which can help them stand out against the competition.

References:

Google.com. Shopalytic. Retrieved February 23, 2014 from http://www.google.com/analytics/apps/about?app_id=5885170347409408

Shop.com. SHOP.com switches from Omniture to Google Analytics for better insights, conversions and value. Retrieved February 22, 2014 from https://www.google.com/analytics/customers/

Google.com. Sprout Social. Retrieved February 23, 2014 from http://www.google.com/analytics/apps/about?app_id=1240001

Lancet, Y. (2013, July 8). Review: Sprout Social, a social management dashboard you'll truly enjoy using. Retrieved February 23, 2014 from http://www.pcworld.com/article/2043003/review-sproutsocial-a-social-management-dashboard-youll-truly-enjoy-using.html

Moz.com. Moz Analytics. Retrieved February 23, 2014 from http://moz.com/products

Patel, N. (2013, September 30). How Google’s move to 100% (not provided) helps you become a much better marketer. Retrieved February 23, 2014 from http://www.quicksprout.com/2013/09/30/how-googles-move-to-100-not-provided-helps-you-become-a-much-better-marketer/

Shop.com. About us. Retrieved February 22, 2014 from http://www.shop.com/aboutushome-t.xhtml

Google and Data Collection: Should Users be Concerned?

Google collects data from millions of its accounts every day. The search company giant owns the top-ranked search portal, a wildly popular e-mail service, a widely-used customizable home page, a leading feed reader, the top-ranked feed management system, the top-ranked analytics product, the largest distributed ad network, the most widely-distributed traffic monitoring toolbar, and the largest video content hosting site.

The collection of personal data from these services has been the subject of much criticism in regards to issues related to ethics, privacy, and security. Google’s own mission statement, which is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” (Google.com) and the means to accomplish it, has raised concerns among company critics. Much of the criticism pertains to issues that still have not yet been addressed by cyber law.

In order to fully understand the issues surrounding Google, it is imperative to first look at the research and news reports about the company. Doing this will help to determine whether or not people should have concerns about Google’s products and services. We will now look at each of these issues in detail.

Ethical Issues

Google has been criticized for various instances of unethical practices. One of these practices has to do with copyright violations. In 2010, Google Books was sued by the American Society of Media Photographers for the “illegal scanning of millions of books and other publications containing copyrighted images and displaying them to the public without regard to the rights of the visual creators” (O’Dell, 2010).

In addition to copyright violations, Google has also been criticized for many of its business decisions. In 2010, Google spent $51.6 million on lobbyists, which was more than Yahoo, Facebook and Apple combined (Kessler, 2011). Another report shows that the FTC challenged Google’s acquisition of AdMob for antitrust reasons (Parr, 2010). Google even reportedly paid $8.5 million to make a class action lawsuit concerning Google Buzz to disappear (Parr, 2010).

Google has also received much criticism from retrieving too much personal data from its users and then using that information for advertising purposes. This raises questions such as:

How much data should the company collect from its users?

Is all of your information fair game if you decide to sign up for a Google account?

Should there be restrictions on which data the company should be allowed to access?

Privacy Issues

Back in 2012, Google updated its privacy policy that allowed the company to share data between 60 of its Web services. Any user with a Google account had to agree to the policy. Users who did not want their information shared had the option to close their Google accounts (WashingtonPost.com, 2012). Not having the right to choose what information is shared between services has created a great deal of criticism.

Privacy concerns are also continuing to rise as Google acquires more companies that rely on the information of consumers. Recently, the company purchased Nest Labs and that has raised concerns among privacy advocates. They “aren't keen on the idea of Google's involvement with devices that already monitor our behavior and presence. The Nest thermostat, for example, has a motion sensor, which activates the screen and changes temperature settings when it registers a body walk past. Some are worried about what Google could potentially do with that and other information stored by Nest products” (Schuster, 2014).

Android apps have also raised privacy concerns for smartphone and tablet users. According to a CBS News report, “if you buy an Android app, Google sends personal information to the developer without explicitly telling you” (Sherman, 2013). This raises the concern on whether a user’s information is truly safe when downloading an app. Should there be an opt-in and opt-out feature that will let the user decide whether or not their information should be shared with developers?

The Android apps issue is only one of several reported privacy violations by Google. Last year, Google admitted to violating people’s privacy during its “Street View mapping project when it casually scooped up passwords, e-mail and other personal information from unsuspecting computer users” (Streitfeld, 2013). Google’s e-mail service, Gmail, has come under fire for automatically scanning e-mails without users’ consent to filter spam and deliver targeted ads to its users (Musil, 2013).

Google has also been criticized for disclosing too much information to governments too quickly and for not disclosing information that governments need to enforce their laws. In 2010, Google released details about how often countries around the world ask it to hand over user data or to censor information (Shiels, 2010). David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, says, “The vast majority of these requests are valid and the information needed is for legitimate criminal investigations or for the removal of child pornography” (Shiels, 2010).

Security Issues

Google has also been criticized for several issues with its security. According to a recent USA Today report, there is a major security flaw with Google’s Chrome browser. Researchers discovered that Chrome’s “caching mechanism routinely stores names, e-mail addresses, street addresses, phone numbers, bank account numbers, social security numbers and credit card numbers directly onto your hard drive in plain text—without knowledge or consent” (Acohido, 2013). This data can be easily stolen through a computer virus, which can put your personal information at risk.

There have also been reports of hackers obtaining the passwords of Google account users. Two of Google’s top Chrome and Google Apps security experts confessed that passwords will continue to be a problem for the people who use them and computer security for the foreseeable future. Eran Feigenbaum, the director of security for Google Apps, says, “You should turn on two-step verification, make sure [the browser] is up to date, and make sure your password recovery options are set” (Rosenblatt, 2013).

Should Users be Concerned About Google’s Data Collection?

After looking at the ethical, privacy, and security issues reported about Google, many people may wonder if their personal information will really be safe when signing up for a Google account.  While these are valid concerns, it is the price people will have to pay in order to reap the benefits of Google’s mostly free services.

According to a report from Guardian.com, “There is a powerful reason why cloud services and other data-mining companies [like Google] aggregate data across multiple accounts and services: the results are extremely valuable. Just as tiny bits of colored tile can be combined and transformed into a coherent piece of art, tiny bits of seemingly unrelated personal data, when aggregated and mined at a huge scale, can provide immense value to advertisers, marketers, corporate sales forces, and others. The revenue generated by combining and monetizing such data – by mining the mosaic – is the reason ‘free’ cloud services can afford to be free” (Cunningham, 2012).

If Google did not share some of the personal information of its users to advertisers, then it would not be able to make money off of its AdWords program, which is one of the major sources of the company’s income. Google would then have to charge each user to use its services and they would no longer be free.

If users want to protect their personal information, they should make sure they regularly change their passwords, make their passwords complex, and not share anything on their Google account that they do not want exposed. When users sign up for an online service, they should expect that their information is really not secret. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said, “If you have something you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place” (Lennard, 2013).

What do you think about Google’s data collection practices? Is what they are doing necessary or have they gone too far?

References:

Acohido, B. (2013, October 10). Google Chrome’s cache exposes personal data. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from http://www.usatoday.com/story/cybertruth/2013/10/10/google-chromes-cache-makes-data-easy-to-steal/2961739/

Cunningham, B. (2012, October 15). Google’s data mining raises questions of national security. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from theguardian.com.

Google.com. Company overview. Retrieved February 16, 2014 from http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/company/

Kessler, S. (2011, January 31). Google spent more on lobbyists in 2010 than Yahoo, Facebook & Apple combined. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from http://mashable.com/2011/01/31/google-lobbyists-2010/

Lennard, N. (2013, June 11). The dangerous ethics behind Google’s transparency claims. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from http://www.salon.com/2013/06/11/the_dangerous_ethics_behind_googles_transparency_claims/

Musil, S. (2013, August 13). Google filing says Gmail users have no expectation of privacy. Retrieved February 16. 2014 from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57598420-93/google-filing-says-gmail-users-have-no-expectation-of-privacy/

O’Dell, J. (2010, April 7). Google gets sued by photographers over Google Books. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from http://mashable.com/2010/04/07/google-books-photographers/

Parr, B. (2010, April 7). FTC close to challenging Google’s acquisition of AdMob. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from http://mashable.com/2010/04/07/ftc-google-admob-challenge/

Parr, B. (2010, September 3). Google settles Buzz privacy lawsuit for $8.5 million. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from http://mashable.com/2010/09/03/google-buzz-lawsuit-settlement/

Rosenblatt, S. (2013, May 16). Google’s security: You (still) are the weakest link. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57584971-93/google-security-you-still-are-the-weakest-link/

Schuster, M. (2014, January 16). Google’s Nest buyout raises privacy concerns. Retrieved February 16, 2014 from http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/01/16/google-acquires-nest-privacy/4518317/

Sherman, E. (2013, February 18). Google privacy issues in forefront again. Retrieved February 16, 2014 from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-privacy-issues-in-forefront-again/

Sheils, M.  (2010, April 20). Google reveals government data requests and censorship. Retrieved February 16, 2014 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8633642.stm

Streitfeld, D. (2013, March 12). Google concedes that drive-by prying violated privacy. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/technology/google-pays-fine-over-street-view-privacy-breach.html?_r=0

WashingtonPost.com. (2012, January 25). Google privacy policy is subject of backlash. Retrieved February 16, 2014 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/google-privacy-policy-is-subject-of-backlash/2012/01/25/gIQAzwZCRQ_story.html

Google Analytics vs. Adobe Site Catalyst: Which is Best for Your Business?

There are so many options for Web analytics tools that it can be overwhelming for businesses that may not understand how to use them. Two of the most commonly used Web analytics software programs are Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst. Each has its pros and cons, so it’s important to understand the differences between the two. Here is an overview of each program.

Overview of Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a popular choice for many businesses today. According to the site’s usage statistics, this tool is currently used by over 50% of the top 10,000 websites in the world, largely due to the fact that it is a free service (Dubois). Google Analytics “can show you how people found your site, how they explored it, and how you can enhance their visitor experience. With this information, you can improve your website return on investment, increase conversions, and make more money on the Web” (P.I. Reed School of Journalism, 2013).

Google describes its analytics software by saying:

“Google Analytics shows you the full customer picture across ads and videos, websites and social tools, tablets and smartphones. That makes it easier to serve your current customers and win new ones” (Google.com/Analytics). Google Analytics can also help you find out where your visitors are coming from, what kind of activities they are doing on your site and how often they come back and more (Dubois).

Google Analytics is a free service and can process up to 10 million hits per month. If your website receives more traffic than 10 million hits per month, Google also offers another tool known as Google Analytics Premium, which includes more customization, strong technical support, and the ability to process up to 1 billion hits per month. The premium service, however, comes at a hefty price of $150,000 annually (Channis, 2013).

Google Analytics is a great choice for small businesses since it offers a lot of robust services for free. Many small businesses do not have over $100,000 a year to budget for a Web analytics software program, which is required by many paid services such as SiteCatalyst. Web analytics expert Christopher Penn says Google Analytics is “so incredibly robust in terms of what it offers and if someone tells you that Google Analytics isn't enough for a small business, then frankly they have no idea how to use it properly” (Dubois).

Overview of Adobe SiteCatalyst

According to Adobe.com, SiteCatalyst allows you to “create customized dashboards and reports and share them in a variety of formats and channels. Using Adobe Analytics, you’ll quickly identify the most profitable paths through digital assets, determine where visitors are navigating away, and identify critical success metrics for online marketing campaigns” (Adobe.com).

Adobe SiteCatalyst will cost well over $100,000 per year. The cost, however, varies according to traffic volume and service level, and depends on the needs of your company. Unlike Google Analytics, there is no monthly hit limit (Chianis, 2013). This makes SiteCatalyst a better option for businesses with websites that receive more than 10 million page views per month. It can also be a cheaper option than Google Analytics Premium. The cost, however, will vary depending on the type of your business and your goals. You will need to contact Adobe for a quote to get a more accurate estimation on costs.

Key Differences of Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst

Now that we have discussed a general overview of each tool, it is important to understand the key differences between Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst. These differences include site implementation, custom variables, and the way each tool reports Web analytics.

Site Implementation

Google Analytics can be easily implemented on your website by copying and pasting the Java Script code provided by the service on all pages of your website (Chianis, 2013). This implementation is easy and requires no IT skills.

SiteCatalyst demands the skills of a trained professional and requires a significant amount of upfront work to implement. Even though it is not as easy to implement as Google Analytics, SiteCatalyst is highly customizable, meaning that the data the software collects is tailored to your business’ specific metric needs (Chianis, 2013). Because it is so customizable, this information may even be more valuable than what you would receive from Google Analytics.

Custom Variables

Custom variables allow you to see specific information about your visitors rather than looking at all visitors in aggregate. Google Analytics allows you to set custom variables, but only lets you have up to five per page. “SiteCatalyst allows up to 75 traffic variables, 100 event variables, and 75 conversion variables, all of which can capture whatever data you would like” (Ingle, 2013).

Reporting Web Analytics

Google Analytics and SiteCatalyst each have very different approaches to reporting Web analytics.

Google Analytics allows for the creation of different data profiles, which are versions of your data with permanent filters applied. The program also allows a user to look at data in sections with segmentation. “A user can apply up to four segments and make comparisons across each of these segments. SiteCatalyst does not allow for the comparison of segments. In order for a comparison to occur in SiteCatalyst, a user must export the data from different segments and compare outside of SiteCatalyst” (Ingle, 2013).

Instead of data profiles and segments, SiteCatalyst displays distinctive reporting suites of various data sets. “If your company’s website has several sub-sites, SiteCatalyst allows the different sub-sites to have their own suite for data, which can then get rolled-up into one large suite. This allows seeing metrics broken down for each sub-site. Report suites allow you to see the different paths a visitor may take between sub-sites. These reports also allow the creation of one dashboard that can be applied with different report suites” (Ingle, 2013).

Which Tool is Better for Your Company?

Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst are two of the most popular choices for Web analytics software and each has a robust offering of services. Google Analytics is free, easier to implement, less customizable, and generates reports using data profiles and segmentation. SiteCatalyst is expensive, more difficult to implement, more customizable, and generates reports using suites of various data sets.

The tool that is best for your company really depends on your goals and resources. If you own a small business and have a small budget, then Google Analytics will likely be the best option. If you have a large company with a website that generates millions of page views a month and need more customization with your reports, then Adobe SiteCatalyst will likely be the preferred choice.

Using multiple Web analytics tools can also be more beneficial for your business. According to Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analytics 2.0, “the quest for a single tool/source to answer all your questions will ensure that your business will end up in a ditch, and additionally ensure that your career (from the Analyst to the web CMO) will be short-lived” (Dubois).

Which Web analytics tool do you use and how has it helped your business?

References:

Adobe.com. Adobe Analytics/Marketing reports and analytics. Retrieved February 9, 2014 from http://www.adobe.com/solutions/digital-analytics/marketing-reports-analytics.html

Chianis, A. Google Analytics vs. Adobe SiteCatalyst – Which data analysis is better for your business? Retrieved February 9, 2014 from http://www.businessbee.com/resources/news/operations-buzz/google-analytics-vs-adobe-sitecatalyst-data-analysis-platform-better-business/

Dubois, L. 11 best web analytics tools. Retrieved February 9, 2013 from http://www.inc.com/guides/12/2010/11-best-web-analytics-tools.html

Google.com/Analytics. Why Google Analytics. Retrieved February 9, 2014 from http://www.google.com/analytics/why/

Ingle, S. (2013, May 15). What’s the difference? Comparing Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst. Retrieved February 9, 2014 from http://www.paceco.com/google-analytics-adobe-sitecatalyst-comparison/

P.I. Reed School of Journalism. (2013, October 21). Lesson 5: Google Analytics. Retrieved February 9, 2014 from ecampus.wvu.edu.