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All-In-One Analytics for Web Merchants
By Christopher Saunders
June 07, 2004
It's hard enough to collect good customer data from your Web site, much less to turn all those numbers into something useful.
But that's where Manticore Technology comes in, with a Web analytics package that does more than provide merchants with a whole lot of data -- it then helps with leveraging that information for revenue-driving activities.
This week, the Austin, Texas-based company took the wraps off its Virtual Commerce Master 4.0 offering, which integrates site, sales, advertising and e-mail analytics into a single interface.
"Lots of customers, they have a very 'siloed' approach -- they have an Web analytics tool, an e-mail tracking tool ... and if they're more advanced, an ad tracking tool," said Christopher Doran, Manticore's vice president of marketing. "Because we're able to track all those programs, we're able to give e-commerce companies ... advanced revenue analysis -- what kind of activities are leading to a sale."
Setup is fairly simple. Like competing offerings from Coremetrics, Fireclick and Hitbox, Manticore's hosted solution relies on code pasted into Web pages rather than logfile analysis. Once your pages are properly coded, the system has the ability to track visitor behavior in near real-time, collecting purchasing data, and determining referrers and their relative value (for instance, tracking the ROI from different search engine keywords and basic Web ads).
The entire system is unified through a centralized dashboard -- new to version 4.0 -- which lists key reports and metrics on a single screen.
Speaking of reporting, data presentation and analysis also is thorough. Virtual Commerce Master includes more than 145 reports -- including useful methods of analyzing traffic such as the "conversion funnel" and more common reports, like click-path and page view analyses.
With relative ease, users can view most-popular products placed in shopping cards, abandonment details, multi-channel revenue generation by product or product category, conversion rates, and the return from different marketing channels. Users can also configure the system to periodically e-mail reports.
"There's a lot of products out her right now that provide static information -- here's what your customers are doing, but it's really up to you to take action with that," Doran said.
Instead, Manticore's system is designed to not only provide actionable data to merchants, but also to incorporate tools for putting information to use immediately.
One way it does this is by incorporating customer retargeting logic, called the Manticore Rules Engine. The tool enables a merchant to configure the system to automatically send incentives via e-mail or on the site (via a pop-up) specifically to visitors who meet specific criteria, such as being frequent buyers, or abandoning their shopping cart.
Merchants set up the feature using a simple wizard interface, though which they can specify conditions under which a pop-up or e-mail deal is triggered.
"What we've done is provide the next level of information... and developed the Manticore Rules Engine, which sets up automated actions based on what analytics result," Doran said. "It really becomes a valuable profit driver for customers."
Manticore Virtual Commerce Master also includes an e-mail marketing tool -- enabling merchants to manage their e-mail lists, schedule and distribute campaigns, manage unsubscribe requests, and track opens and clicks. Campaign results are also reported in the larger context of how they drive sales and interact with site activities.
"Through integration, your e-mail campaigns that you send out to customers are considered an extension of your Web site, not an independent identity," Doran said.
Manticore's built-in e-mail delivery engine might also make sense for online merchants looking to reduce their e-mail marketing costs -- by consolidating their e-mail service or software in with their metrics service.
Source: Ecommerce-Guide.com
