How can you achieve measurable results and drive informative business decisions if you don’t know how you are performing at present? Optimizing “Data Analytics” metrics is key!
This blog will discuss how you can leverage the power of data analytics to grow your business and increase your sales. Simply, it is not an understatement to say data analytics will help drive measurable results for your organization.
ECommerce analytics can include a wide range of metrics and data points to measure. Whether you’re looking at data analytics from your current environment or creating a list of data points you would want from your next commerce platform. Data analytics enables you to dive deep into facts and figures, and historical business data. Having access to data can be very insightful and allows you to drive intelligent business decisions for your business.
DigiCommerce in partnership with Ultra Commerce is covering 4 key data points that are unique to B2B eCommerce. Each metric can help you generate repeat purchases, and increase order volume. Let’s dive in.
1. New Accounts by Source and First Order
Typically B2C customers create their new accounts at the checkout step. However, unlike B2C, there are many other venues where B2B customer accounts are created and sourced. For example, trade shows, website tracking, sales team outreach to customers, back office, and many other venues. Thus, in other words, tracking those accounts by the source, where they originated, will drive a number of decisions and communication workflow. To elaborate more, the action steps could be as follows:
- To determine which channels are generating the newest accounts. Also to be able to determine what areas of improvement need to tackle. You need to track and monitor new accounts generated you the website, CRM integrations, customer application forms, or your back office ERP.
- In order to be able to diagnose certain flows or problems on your website. Such as in your pricing or product selection processes or even at the checkout process. And in order to find out why many new accounts are not converting. Thus, you need to investigate all these red flags. To do that, you need to monitor and track down a list of all new customers or new accounts who have not placed their first order, versus those accounts who converted their first order. Reach out to those accounts and dig out more data analytics for the real cause of what hinders them from materializing their first orders. By doing this with the data points you specify in your research, you can figure out if your pricing is not right, a complicated checkout process, or simply missing detailed product information. Then, using these analytics you can indicate where is the real problem and tackle and win new customers!
2. Lost or Dormant Customers
One of the “not very familiar” metrics that we almost forget about is evaluating and revisiting our “Best Customers” list frequently. Why, because in many cases those “best customers” purchase behavior changes over time. If we look closer, we can find out that some of their purchase volumes decreased significantly. Others may not even be placing orders for more than a year! They became dormant customers. Thus, it is worth tracking data helps to go after these customers who are considered “at risk” of losing them.
In fact, It is much easier to go after these dormant customers and maintain them. Rather than fetch new ones to generate the same purchase volume. Using data analytics allows you to set and specify certain parameters in your reports to retarget those dormant customers. Nevertheless, utilizing workflow and integrated data to automate marketing outreach to those customers is a great opportunity to increase revenue and drive loyalty. In addition, by utilizing your data analytics, you can set up alert messaging on your reporting system to notify the assigned sales representative of changes to these “best customers” changes in their purchase volume and frequency.
3. Average Order Count & Value by Type
With the different types of orders being placed through your storefront. For example orders for equipment, replacement orders, parts, supplies, and replenishment. It could be hard and challenging to monitor those orders’ values by type. This is because reviewing average order value at a holistic level ignores the idea that there is likely to be a concentration of a number of different types of orders mashed into a single report. Original equipment orders shouldn’t be compared to orders of a single replacement part. Thus, applying filters to the average order value reports more specific tracking.
4. Quote Abandonment & Conversion
In fact, how many quotes were started and never converted? Especially when you compare ones started online versus offline sources. The quote management review process and analytics are key. It is important to analyze and review active, inactive, and/or at-risk quotes, not only in terms of volume but also in terms of dollar value. How much order volume is sitting in the “quote” status? How can those quotes be made active again? And does your sales team follow up with those customers to reactivate and move into the “order placed” category?
How can those quotes be made active again and is the sales team following up with those customers to reactivate and move into the “order placed” category?
Similar to cart-to-order conversion, only a small increase in quote-to-cart conversion could generate high revenue for any business. Thus, tracking that high-risk abundance quote and those unlikely to convert saves those orders from disappearing.
To summarize, do you want to take your storefront to the next level? If you want to quantify your growth and have measurable results for your business, you should leverage the power of data analytics. To have a materializing B2B eCommerce storefront requires analytics to workflow and automation with a messaging component. Nevertheless, to generate business, you have to drive, track, measure, and analyze data in order to know how you performing today and rectify issues to grow. Running a B2B eCommerce storefront provides endless opportunities for metrics and data points you can be monitoring and optimize for. DigiCommere in partnership with Ultra Commerce can guide you through this process to ensure you’re driving informed business decisions.
You can count on us. Simply consult one of DigiCommerce’s technical experts today!
