SurfStatsLive Reporting Server

• What is eCommerce Capabilities? Description of SurfStats eCommerce Capabilities. Transaction Types that can be tracked. Definable user actions. Accessing eCommerce Reports. Available eCommerce Reports.

  Description of SurfStats eCommerce Capabilities
  
  The eCommerce module in SurfStats Log Analyzer and SurfStatsLive analyzes certain web activity data from log files and determines which marketing efforts where responsible for the best ROI (return on investment) of marketing money spent.

  Transaction Types that can be tracked
  
  Campaigns - Cost per Click (CPC) campaigns from search engines like Google and Overture. Also other online advertising campaigns.
  
  Opt-ins - Marketing efforts where a user consents to receive sales and marketing information from marketers.
  
  Trials - Similar to opt-ins, trials measure the effectiveness of processes enticing users to sign up to obtain product trials.
  
  Orders - Online order and shopping cart interaction analysis.
  
  Definable user actions
  
  The SurfStats eCommerce module goes one step further by allowing definable user actions. User actions are the actions that a user takes when interacting with a marketing or eCommerce related process. For instance in order analysis viewing a cart could be an action, providing shipping details could be another action. The main advantage with the way actions are implemented in the SurfStats eCommerce module is that there are no predefined list of actions, allowing the end user of the module to define his/her own custom set of actions.

  Accessing eCommerce Reports
  
  Assuming you are running the correct edition of SurfStats Log Analyzer or SurfStatsLive and there are web activity data related to eCommerce available in the log files:

  • Using SurfStats Log Analyzer the eCommerce reports are accesible on the eCommerce tab after report generation.
  • Using SurfStatsLive the eCommerce reports are accessible on the Traffic tab, when logged in as a SurfStatsLive user.

  Available eCommerce Reports
  
  Currently the eCommerce reports are grouped into four sections:

  • Search Engine Performance. Focuses on search engines and search phrases and their effectiveness.
  • Revenue Source. Focuses on the source of revenue.
  • eCommerce. Focuses on ROI.
  • Affiliates. Focusses on the effectiveness of affiliates.
     
• Campaign Analysis. Cost per Click Campaigns from Google, Overture and other Search Engines. Configuring eCommerce Campaigns. 

  Cost per Click (CPC) Campaigns
  
  Leading Search Engines like Google and Overture allows the definition of campaigns where your ad is displayed on search engine pages when a certain search phrase is entered and searched for. Each time the ad is clicked the visitors is directed to your site. Per click you pay an amount, which varies based on factors like the position of the ad and the popularity of the search phrase. These types of ads that direct traffic to your site are also called Paid Searches. Normal search results on search engines (found by the search engine by crawling the web) are also called Organic Searches.
  
  Configuring eCommerce Campaigns
  
  When configuring the CPC campaign at the Search Engine you specify the URL to be called when the ad (or impression) is clicked. In this URL you should specify the required query parameters to let SurfStats recognize the hit line as an eCommerce transaction.
  
  To set up a CPC campaign at Google go to Adwords at Google. You would need to log in or create an account if you don't have one. Click Create New Campaign or select an existing campain from the list. On the Ad Groups screen click Create New Ad Group or select an existing Ad Group. You can then define a list of search phrases (called keywords on-screen). When one of these search phrases are entered by a visitor your ad will display on the search page. Add or select a search phrase (keyword) and click the Edit CPCs/URLs button. In the Destination URL field you need to specify the URL that you want Google to direct the visitor to and let SurfStats recognize it as an eCommerce transaction. For instance to direct the visitor to the web page ssl_prod.asp at http://www.surfstats.com/ when the search phrase (keyword) live statistics is entered for the GoogleSSLive campaign, product SurfStatsLive, product category of Live Statistics Products, at a cost of $0.45 per click you would specify (in one line):
  
  Please note:

  • The detail parameter is the value that SurfStats will use for the search phrase. If you do not specify a detail query parameter then SurfStats will use the search phrase from the referrer info.
  • The cost parameter is an estimate. At this stage SurfStats cannot import the actual cost data. For a start use the Maximum CPC. As soon as actual data is available adjust the cost parameter by setting it equal to the Average CPC. From time-to-time use Show Statistics for from the Google screen listing the keywords to determine the Average CPC.
     
• Opt-ins. Sample Scenarios for using opt-in analysis. Configuring opt-in analysis.

  Sample Scenarios
  
  Opt-ins are marketing efforts where a user consents to receive sales and marketing information from marketers, for instance by signing up for a newsletter, checking a checkbox to receive product updates etc.
  
  Opt-in analysis as implemented by SurfStats's products is very flexible in the sense that it allows you to track vitually any type of opt-in campaign you can think of. This is made possible by custom actions. For instance you can track the monthly customer mailblast effectiveness by defining a different action parameter when the email gets sent, opened, forwarded or a target URL gets opened by the recipient.

  Configuring opt-in analysis
  
  It is advisable to follow the steps below when deciding to do opt-in analysis:

  • Decide which marketing efforts in your organisations falls into the category of online opt-in analysis and which ones you want to track.
  • For each of the efforts define the set of actions that you need to track, for instance email opened, email forwarded, target URL reached etc.
  • Prepare the marketing material and embed the URLs with the necessary action parameters in the URLs.
  • Run the campaign.
  • Measure the effective of the campaign by generating reports for the profile.
• Trials. Sample Scenarios for using trial analysis. Configuring up trial analysis. 

  Sample Scenarios
  
  Trials are very similar to opt-ins. With trial analysis the effectivess of online sign-up process can be measured. For instance you can use trial analysis to establish where the bottlenecks are in your sign-up process, where the majority of users abandon the sign-up process etc.

  Configuring opt-in analysis
  
  It is advisable to follow the steps below when deciding to do trial analysis:

  • Decide which marketing efforts in your organisation falls into the category of trial analysis and which ones you want to track.
  • For each of the steps in the trial sign-up define a action. For instance if your sign-up process consists of three pages then you could use the actions "Signup Request", "Signup Page 1", "Signup Page 2", "Signup Page 3" and "Signup Complete".
  • Embed the URLs (each with the unique action parameters) in the sign-up web pages. You can do this with embedded <IMG> tags similar to the ones for the direct marketing campaign at Generating eCommerce hit lines, using zztype=trial.
  • Measure the effective of the campaign by generating reports for the profile from time-to-time.
• Online order analysis. Tracking Online Orders and Shopping Carts. Configuring Shopping Cart Software for Order Analysis.

  Tracking Online Orders and Shopping Carts
  
  SurfStats's online order analysis can be used to track the efficiency, source and revenue generated by online ordering processes. Most online ordering systems on web sites are implemented as shopping carts. With a shopping cart a visitor can select items from a catalog to add to the cart and delete items previously added to the cart. When the item selection is done the visitor proceeds to the checkout stage where he/she is prompted for shipping, payments and other relevant details.
  
  A lot of shopping cart software offers good reporting facilities for captured orders, for instance sales per day, per product, per product category etc. However tracking the complete ordering process and the origin of the sale, for instance the search term from the search engine originally responsible for the referral, are difficult to achieve with shopping cart software.

  Configuring Shopping Cart Software for Order Analysis
  
  It is advisable to follow the steps below when deciding to do order analysis:

  • Decide which actions performed during the visitor interaction with the shopping cart you want to track, for instance cart view, cart add, shipping, payment, cart complete.
  • For each of the actions find the location in the shopping cart source code where the action takes place and embed the URLs (each with the unique action parameters) in applicable web pages.
  • Measure the effective of the online ordering process by generating reports for the profile from time-to-time.