Nine Metrics Useful for Measuring Ecommerce Success

In an article recently published on Mashable’s website, several successful ecommerce entrepreneurs were asked what data they rely on to develop and monitor strategies. The following is a list of the nine metrics these entrepreneurs deemed most valuable along with a brief summary of why.

1. User Acquisition Costs
This metric can be used to determine the success rate of your PPC campaigns. How much does it cost you each time a user lands on a web page in relation to conversions?

2. Abandoned Carts
Monitor this metric to ask customers who bailed on their shopping carts why they did not proceed through to checkout. Was it something with the checkout process itself? Were shipping costs too high? There are a number of reasons why shopping carts are abandoned. This is a good metric to watch in order to gain insight on possible improvements that could lead to a higher conversion rate.

3. Google Analytics Experiments
This is a tool accessible from your Google Analytics account. It can be used for split testing. Use experiments to test different web pages against each other to determine what is working and what is not. For more information on experiments, follow this link.

4. Visitor Value
Determine how much revenue each one of your visitors generates. From here, you can come up with a strategy in regards to how much you want to spend to draw new traffic to your website.

5. Lifetime Value
Yet another important metric to consider is the lifetime value of a customer. Consider why some customers return and spend more than others and then think about how to market old and new products to both new and return customers.

6. Traffic
Look at where your traffic is coming from and what the bounce rate is. Information like this can be viewed from your Google Analytics account. This entrepreneur suggests that the best money making opportunity comes from non-branded, organic traffic.

7. Lead Source ROI
Monitor the ROI of each different advertising method to determine which ones are most effective.

8. Purchase Funnel
Analyze the purchase funnel to understand where and when a customer drops off the sales process.

9. Percentage of Mobile Visits
With the use of mobile devices on the rise, having a site optimized for this type of shopper is crucial. 

The original article post on Mashable can be viewed in its entirety here.

Updated Customer Web Stores from Azox

The team at Azox has been busy updating current customer sites to the latest version of eSource, which is our ecommerce software. The latest completed update was for Dr. Hauschka. The Dr. Hauschka web store sells natural skin care products and makeup.

Dr. Hauschka’s new website runs on eSource 3.4. The company also chose to add one page and guest checkout. This feature helps provide a better user experience in several ways. With the checkout process, users want to complete their transactions quickly and easily. By offering one page/guest checkout, users are able to make purchases without creating an account. Further, all the information required for the purchase can be entered on one screen. The upgraded web store can be viewed here.

Another one of our customers, Recreation Supply Company, has chosen to upgrade to eSource 3.4. This company sells swimming pool supplies on their ecommerce website. The upgraded version of their web store also includes one page/guest checkout in addition to dimension groups. Dimension groups is a tool that allows similar items in your database to be lumped together under one item. For example, a clothing retailer would use this feature to group together several pairs of denim that are all the same style, but are available in various sizes and washes. Recreation Supply Company’s upgraded web store can be viewed here.

Dental City, a provider of dental products, is also now running their web store using eSource 3.4. They too opted for one page/guest checkout and also added filters. The filters feature allows users to better refine their search results using specific attributes, such as color or size. Check out their updated web store here.

If you are a current customer and are interested in how an upgrade can benefit you, contact our sales team to schedule a demo.

August Webinars Hosted by Azox

Each month Azox hosts three webinars. Each highlights a different solution offered by Azox. These include ecommerce, payment processing and online bill pay, all of which are built on Microsoft Dynamics GP. These webinars are free to attend, all you need to do is follow the link to register.

Integrated Ecommerce for Microsoft Dynamics GP
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Grow your business online with a web store that integrates with your Microsoft Dynamics GP back office solution. This includes the ability to offer customers real time inventory and pricing updates, shipping calculation from UPS, USPS, FedEx and Purolator, one-page guest checkout, advanced search capabilities including the ability to deeply refine results and much more. Signup for this webinar and learn more about the Azox ecommerce solution for Dynamics GP.

Secure Credit Card Processing in Microsoft Dynamics GP
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Get the most out of your Microsoft Dynamics GP investment by adding the ability to process credit cards securely. With Azox Credit Card Extension, you will be able to accept payment via credit card, ACH or credit memo. This solution is PA-DSS Certified and allows you to pre-authorize, post-authorize, sale void and credit. It can also store multiple credit cards for each customer and keeps sensitive data offsite through use of tokenization. Join Azox for this online event by following the link to register.

Advantages of Online Bill Pay for Microsoft Dynamics GP
Thursday, August 22, 2013
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Providing customers with the option to pay their bills online gives them greater convenience and allows you to get paid quicker. Customers can make payments that will be validated and processed 24/7/365. Those payments are captured and recognized in real time. All this is done by logging into an online portal. In addition to making payments, customers can also log in and view or print invoices. To learn more about this solution, follow the link and register.

If these dates don’t fit your schedule, be sure to check back next month for webinars. Or, contact our sales team to setup your own personal demo.

Tips to Improve the Performance of Landing Pages for E-Commerce Websites

Landing pages can be used to help increase the conversion rate of different items on your ecommerce website. In order for this to happen, it is important to create strong landing pages. A landing page that lacks a clear message may only draw a consumer to your site briefly. The point of a landing page is not only to get a consumer to your site, but also to get them to make a purchase. In order to ensure this happens, try these tips that will help you develop strong landing pages that drive conversions.

Make the Call to Action (CTA) Standout

Whatever it is that you want the consumer do should be clearly expressed on the landing page. This may be to “shop now” or to “watch a video” to try to drive them to your site and to ultimately make a purchase. The CTA needs to standout in a distinct way. It should be in a centralized location on the landing page in order for consumers to know what they are supposed to click on. The use of visual cues can help with this as well.

Offer Incentives

Consumers are not interested in only benefiting your web store. They also want something for themselves. With that said, offer consumers something for engaging in the CTA designated on the landing page. This could be a free demo, coupon or other gift.

Keep the Landing Page Simple

Your landing pages should focus on one thing. The more clutter you add to the page, the less likely it is that a consumer will get the message.

Concise, Relevant Headline

Avoid puns or other fluff copy when it comes to the headline used on your landing page. Compose a headline that is concise and relevant. If you can, write a headline that sums up what the landing page is about in no more than 17 words.

Strong Design

The layout of your landing page must flow well. It should be easy to read and devoid of distracting, unnecessary images. Use readable fonts, consider bulleted lists to display information and appropriate use of white space.

Landing pages are a great way to increase conversions on an ecommerce website. Try implementing these tips to improve the performance of your landing pages.