Years ago, who would’ve thought we’ll be buying things conveniently online? No need to go to the shop physically to get what you need. You can even get food delivered to your doorstep with a few simple clicks.

E-commerce has grown exponentially. The number of online purchases is expected to reach a 23 percent increase in 2025. The shift in buying habits due to the pandemic led to e-commerce stores spreading like mushrooms. With a saturated market, having an online store is no longer enough– you need to take your business further.

Now, more than ever, you’ll need to rely on customer data. The specific, personalized data about your customers and their preferences will drive more sales. 

How are you performing at present?

Getting the desired results is challenging if you’re unaware of your current performance. If you want your business to continue to thrive, you need to learn from previous efforts and test new ideas. All of this boils down to one thing: e-commerce data analytics. 

The analytics help you dig deeper into facts and figures. You can also conduct survey analysis for efficient future forecasting. Surveys and analytics as a whole dramatically impact your business. Whether the impact is bad or good depends on how well you analyze the data you’ve gathered. 

Let’s dive into e-commerce analytics and find out how data can help you make intelligent decisions and drive more sales.

1. Measure your marketing and sales campaigns

Data helps you measure how successful your marketing campaigns are. Regardless of the results, it shapes how you improve your business decisions to establish holistic marketing programs. 

The best way to understand your return on investment (ROI) is to assess the outcome of your marketing and sales campaigns. Below are some of the metrics you can use to measure data results in your campaigns:

• Bounce rate - This is the total number of users who leave your website after viewing just a single page. You can compute this by dividing the total number of single-page visits by the total number of visits. 

• Click-through rate (CTR) - This metric is the percentage of users who click on a call-to-action (CTA) or link in a marketing message. You can calculate this by dividing the overall number of clicks by the sum of impressions.

• Conversion rate - This is the total percentage of users who purchased, filled out a form, or subscribed to a newsletter. You can calculate this in three ways:

• Total conversions ÷ Total sessions x 100 = Conversion rate

• Total conversions ÷ Total unique visitors x 100 = Conversion rate

• Total conversions ÷ Total n leads x 100 = Conversion rate

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC) - This is how much you spend in getting a new customer. This may include advertising costs, salesperson salaries, and other expenses. Calculate this by dividing the total sales and marketing cost by the total number of new customers.

• Return on investment (ROI) - This is the revenue you generate compared to your marketing and sales campaign cost. You can calculate this by subtracting the total cost of your campaigns from the total income, then dividing it by the total costs. 

By tracking metrics and analyzing data, you can make a more informed decision for your campaigns and eventually improve them for better results. 

2. Check trends and patterns in your data for an accurate forecast

People worldwide consider inflation a leading concern above poverty and unemployment. While shoppers are still spending money online, your brand isn’t exempted from the pressures of inflation. Therefore, you’ll need to consider the impact of inflation and other trends to gain valuable insights for your business. 

Evaluating the trends and patterns in data will help you understand your customers. Here are two best practices to follow:

• Look for patterns over a period of time - Are there repeated cycles or seasonal trends you can identify? For instance, mobile commerce is quickly becoming a shopper’s preferred channel, and by 2025 it’s expected to reach $728.28 billion. If you notice most customers use smartphones to shop, you should focus more on improving mobile website performance.

• Examine external factors - When you evaluate trends in data, you should also consider external factors that may influence them. For example, as seen worldwide, COVID-19 has made a massive impact on e-commerce trends. With brick-and-mortar shops closing overnight, shoppers run to the internet to buy their needs. 

Any changes in the economy, market conditions, or customer behavior can affect emerging trends. By evaluating patterns in data, you can understand how your business is performing and how it’s likely to serve in the future. 

This forecasting will devise everything from hiring goals and sales goals. It will also ensure that the right products are accessible at the right time to meet customers’ expectations. 

3. Personalize individual customer experiences

Knowing how your customers interact with the business is key to understanding what marketing formats and channels appeal to them. Here are several quick steps to help you personalize and improve individual customer experiences. 

• First, collect customer data, including purchase history, website behavior, etc. 

• Second, analyze your collected data and identify patterns like purchasing behaviors that show their preferences or interests. 

• Third, segment and group your customers based on their behavior, interests, and preferences.

• Fourth, use your gathered data to improve your communication with customers. This may include creating targeted ads, sending personalized emails, or tailoring a product or service based on their purchase history. 

• Lastly, continue monitoring and adjust accordingly. Improving customer experience is a continuous process. This is why adapting your strategy based on customer feedback and behavior is crucial. 

Using data to improve customer experiences help you increase customer loyalty and ultimately grow revenue.

Reshape Your Strategy With Data-Driven Insights

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

Now that you realize how vital data can be to your business, implement it properly to increase your chances of success. Keep in mind that data alone without proper interpretation and analysis is worthless. 

Don’t let gathered data sit in a report. Use it smartly to guide your business to the next stage of growth.