Acquisition, acquisition, acquisition. Getting the most leads at the least cost is often the mantra of every ecommerce manager. The general rule of thumb seems to be this: more visitors, more page views, more conversions.But acquisition cannot be the sole balance of an ecommerce’s success. Whether you operate exclusively in ecommerce or the model is total retail: it is now clear that acquiring, without converting-perhaps even multiple times-is certainly not a sustainable path, all the more so in a very competitive environment.
The imbalance between acquisition investment and CLV increase depends very much on the business model.
However, every tiny step today must be taken care of and optimized, not only in the individual conversion, but in the overall user experience with the brand. Let us try to summarize three fundamental steps at the level of method, three golden rules that cannot be forgotten by those who sell online.
After all , as Avinash Kaushik says in this post, lowering costs has a limit, increasing sales is an endless horizon (assuming even a new metric, PPH, profit per human)
1) ACTING ON SALES METRICSAnecommerce is a store and the metrics to measure it cannot be just those of web marketing, they must necessarily be sales metrics. Among these, in addition to Customer Lifetime Value on which we have written an entire ebook, the following must surely be monitoredAOV= Average Order Value, that is, the average value of ordersAOVPU = Average Order Value Per User, that is, the average value of orders per userThesemetrics are very useful, especially when viewed by user type and then by segments.
You can measure how much your actions impact the business and decide to operate levers based on the performance of these results.
For example: you can determine to increase the overall average value by acting on a group of best-performing users. (=increasing the receipt of hero buyers). Or you can vary your up sell tactics on lower average value users (=retargeting on other channels, more advantageous promotions).a
2) SEGMENTING IN REAL TIME Segmenting well is crucial, but often we are limited to grouping users solely according to RFM logic (thus taking into account history), or according to more or less refined socio demo variables.
The truth is that segments are very dynamic, and buying behavior is not just a concept related to what was purchased. How users browse and consult the website also tells us a lot about them and, more importantly, allows us to glimpse latent opportunities. Products clicked, viewed, abandoned carts, are all indicators of potential interest.This information combined with recent history helps us to:
- propose the right thing to the right person
- Choosing the channel and the way to do it
- exploit latent opportunities at the very moment they are proposed
Regardless of whether you are skewed toward acquisition or retention you cannot overlook pending opportunities. At Blendee we call these segments “waiting” and they can be triggered with timely tactics such as behavioral messages (faster conversion attempts while browsing, abandoned cart recovery emails, retargeting on social, etc.).
3) CUSTOMIZE ALL NAVIGATION
Personalization is a definite choice, and statistics prove it. The more you personalize, the greater the conversions. It is important to personalize not only on direct channels, but also dynamically on the website. To do this you must first recognize the user and have a range of data, ranging from order history to customer journey. Here are what levers you can act on, for example, during onsite navigation:
- Recommended products based on similar users (belonging to the same segment)
- Customized messages with exclusive benefits for specific segments only
- Related products based on purchases and/or browsing
This type of algorithm-based personalization can of course be extended to all other channels, email, social networks, adwords with appropriate differences on timing and formats for each segment.
