IKEA Ecommerce: A Case Study

Retrieved from http://www.distribucionactualidad.com/
ikea-hacia-la-multicanalidad-venta-online-en-dos-anos/

Website ecommerce must ALWAYS be tracked and analyzed in order for any ecommerce company to grow and be successful.  Ecommerce metrics measure both transaction and item data allowing for marketers to observe conversions and create customer profiles from which they can continue marketing efforts (and therefore more profit).  The following post will elaborate on how IKEA used ecommerce analytics to monitor customer traffic. 

Background

IKEA is a global furniture superstore that has positioned itself as the leader in furniture design and innovation made affordable for most individuals.  While their brand is recognized and followed internationally, it’s surprising to think (in this technologically savvy day and age) that most of their sales come from in-store purchases.  Only recently have IKEA officials stressed the need to transition to ecommerce on top of their highly successful brick and mortar stores.  In2013, “IKEA reported an uptick in Web traffic, with 1.3 billion visits were recorded, and the IKEA catalog app was downloaded nearly 10 million times. Visits to physical stores, meanwhile, declined by 1% in 2013 despite the addition of five new stores, including two in China” (Hansegard & Rolander, 2014).  While stores are still thriving, data shows that the demand for IKEA ecommerce is growing rapidly.  Lars Gunnarsson, IT demand manager at IKEA, stated that “‘Ecommerceis our single biggest project. Today our whole business is based on shoppers coming to the store, picking things up and delivering them yourself.  We need to be more sophisticated in service areas.’” (Thomson, 2014)

The challenges IKEA faces are keeping prices low in the midst of home delivery as opposed to in-store pickup and tailoring marketing efforts to each international region they occupy (e.g: North America, Europe, etc.).  The following studies highlight website analytics approaches that have been successful in IKEA’s Australia and United Kingdom (UK) regions.  These efforts could possibly be carried out within different regions to reap the same success within IKEA’s evolving ecommerce model.

IKEA Australia

Any person who has stepped inside of an IKEA store knows that IKEA is famous for their unique in-store layout and customer experience.   IKEA Australia, in conjunction with Match Media, aimed to translate that process within an e-commerce platform.

YOU: Okay, okay, let’s get to the point.  What did IKEA Australia do with their ecommerce and how did they do it?

Step 1: They Gathered Existing Data

While they didn’t explore too far back, IKEA Australia and Match Media took some time pulling data through various resource feeds.  With this data, they found: (Match Media, 2015)

• Revenue and footfall by store, by department, by date
• Website engagement metrics and all online interactions by department, by location and date from Adobe Site-Catalyst
• External conditions e.g. sale conditions, weather, economic climate, key news stories, holiday periods
• To develop the model, they then established a core set of principles:
•  User purchase journeys are neither linear nor consistent - they are made from a diverse range of combined actions 
• The research process and purchase journey length are never immediate - varying significantly by product, department and individual searching
• External factors (e.g. school holidays) impact research habits and business sales

Step 2: They Found their Core KPIs and Business Metrics

The observations above were key into finding what exactly IKEA needed to focus on in measuring their website moving forward.  After heavy analysis of the above, Match Media “used Multi-Linear-Regression (MLR) modeling - taking 70% of the data to ‘train’ the model and 30% to test – enabling it to forecast sales within a 95% accuracy” (Match Media, 2015).  As a result of the formula and further analysis, the following core business metrics were produced for IKEA: (Match Media, 2015)

1.  Number of products added to a ‘Shopping List’
2. Stock Availability checks
3. Visits to local store pages
4. Internal IKEA website searches
5. Number of products viewed

Step 3: They Segmented their Data, Created Customer Profiles, and Targeted their Ads

YOU: Alright, so they measured website data to figure out what exactly they needed to measure…now how can IKEA convert these metrics to actionable data? 

I’m happy you asked.  IKEA Australia ended up partnering with “the Advertiser Database Match (ADBM) product, allowing the company to match Yahoo!7's audience with IKEA customer data sources to target aspiring Australian home decorators.”(Yahoo, Inc., 2013).  The primary goal of this partnership was to understand “if a campaign offer impacted the foot traffic and in-store sales, of consumers who were exposed to the activity online” (Match Media, 2015). 

YOU: Wait a minute….you mean to tell me that IKEA Australia wanted to track their online visitors to see if the visitors purchased an IKEA product in-store?  Integrating online and offline?? 

That is exactly right!  ADMB, Yahoo!7, IKEA matched all of the audience, of whom had been exposed to IKEAs online advertising campaign, “against the 1.2 million IKEA FAMILY loyalty database, then captured the Kitchen transactions of all of those exposed to the advertising and those who hadn’t been and, for the first time ever, was able to attribute kitchen sales uplifts directly to its display activity” (Match Media, 2015). 

As a result, year-on-year post-click tracking performance increased by the following: (Match Media, 2015)

• Business performance increase YOY: 91%
• Cost Per Business Performance decreased YOY: 51%
• Every measurable metric is up by at least 90% YOY and continuing to grow delivering the best business performance on record in Australia.

IKEA Cardiff, UK

From a social media Pay Per Click standpoint, IKEA of Cardiff, UK tested a campaign by matching Facebook usage and EE mobile data to “measure and uplift visits to the IKEA store in Cardiff from those who had seen targetedIKEA adverts on Facebook” between December 2013 and January 2014 (Smith, 2014).  Knocking down two major traffic referrers, social media and mobile, the geo-targeted test campaign “delivered 1.4 million impressions and saw the biggest impact among 22 to 25-year-olds” with “a 31% increase in store visits among this group. The 26 to 35-year-olds were up 11% compared to the non-exposed group” (Smith, 2014).  To be accurate, IKEA made sure to separate staff, people who lived in the Cardiff area, and passers-by from the visitor traffic measured above, but also compared this group against “other mobile numbers that had not been exposed” all while maintaining user privacy (Smith, 2014; Woodman, 2015).  

The combination of PPC data and mobile data, along with careful analysis between the two, allowed IKEA to fully observe how their visitor traffic (both online and off) was being affected and how to influence visitor traffic across multiple channels in the future. 

Which metrics can IKEA use to improve their website analytics efforts?

First of all, it took a good amount of work, time and money to be able to accomplish the data mining feats IKEA accomplished in the above examples.  The metrics they measured were also necessary for them to collect since, at the time, their website and online efforts only allowed for in-store pickup as opposed to home delivery.

IKEAs shift in their ecommerce efforts, from in-store pickup to home delivery, will also (slightly) shift the way they measure their online success.  In addition to measuring number of products added to a ‘Shopping List’, stock availability checks, visits to local store pages, internal IKEA website searches, and number of products viewed within a segmented geographic location, IKEA could benefit from keeping an eye on the following:

1)    Sessions to Purchase

Most people don’t just buy a couch on a whim, especially when they have to put it together.  Measuring Sessions to Purchase will allow marketers “to get a trueunderstanding of how long it takes people to buy” from IKEAs website, at what times in the purchase process are crucial for segmented, targeted advertising, and if that behavior is different across different segments of your website customers (Kaushik, 2006).  Effective analysis of this metric in addition to A/B testing across various paltforms will no doubt optimize IKEAs online conversions.

2)    Visits per Value (total revenue/total visits)

This metric is key in determining where to spend the most amount of time marketing to specific audience segments.  Visits per Value gives you the number of dollars made on a particular visit to your website.   The higher the visit per value,the more valuable the traffic is for your e-commerce business (Sharma, n/d).  You can match specific customer profiles to this data to figure out which customers to target for a specific campaign.  In IKEA’s case, marketers can segment IKEA Family Card holders and figure out exactly how much they should spend marketing toward this group in terms of e-mail promotions, coupons, etc. 

3)    In-Page Exit Rates Within the Shopping Cart funnel

This metric is key.  Measuring these exit rates (i.e. where customers drop-out of the shopping cart/checkout process) will provide information on how IKEA can optimize their cart and what trigger actions IKEA can then take to persuade customers to complete their order in the near future.  Shall they send a trigger email?  Should an advertisement of the items in their cart haunt them through social media ads?  Comparing this metrics next to Sessions to Purchase can further optimize IKEA’s marketing efforts by defining a specific time frame for each advertisement or promotion.

Feel free to share what you have found on IKEA’s ecommerce platform and other metrics that you think IKEA should measure in order to become even more profitable.   

References:

Google. (15 July 2014).  Custom Variables – Web Tracking (ga.js).  Google Developers.  Retrieved from https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/gajs/gaTrackingCustomVariables

Hansegard, J., Rolander, N. (28 January 2014).  IKEA Chief Says Focus to Remain on Stores.  Wall Street Journal.  Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB30001424052702303277704579347942836197338

IKEA. (2015).  IKEA 2014: Highlights from Our Year.  IKEA.com.  Retrieved from http://ouryear.ikea.com/story/ecommerce/

Kaushik, A. (21 August 2006).  Excellent Analytics Tip #6: Measure Days & Visits to Purchase.  Occam’s Razor.  Retrieved from http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/excellent-analytics-tip6-measure-days-visits-to-purchase/

Match Media.  (2015).  IKEA: A Data Matching Love Story.  Cream Global.  Retrieved from https://www.creamglobal.com/case-studies/latest/17798/33834/ikea-a-data-matching-love-story/

Sharma, H. (n/d).  E-Commerce Tracking in Google Universal Analytics – Complete Guide.  Optimize Smart.  Retrieved from http://www.optimizesmart.com/e-commerce-tracking-works-google-analytics-ultimate-guide/#ixzz3TCH6vOQF

Smith, C. (14 May 2014).  Ikea’s Facebook Campaign Uses Mobile Data to Prove Effectiveness.  The Guardian.  Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/may/14/ikea-facebook-mobile-campaign

Thomson, R. (13 November 2014).  Ikea to Roll Out New Web Platform as it Chases 20% Online Sales.  Retail Week.  Retrieved from http://www.retail-week.com/multichannel/online-retail/ikea-to-roll-out-new-web-platform-as-it-chases-20-online-sales/5066258.article

Woodman, I. (2015).  IKEA: Bringing Customers into IKEA Using Facebook.  #IPASocialWorks.  Retrieved from https://www.marketingsociety.com/sites/default/files/IKEA_CASESTUDY2.PDF

Yahoo, Inc. (1 May 2013).  Yahoo!7 partners with IKEA for new product trial.  B & T Weekly.  Sydney, Australia; Reed Business Information Pty Ltd.

How to Win the Internet: Beat the Google Machine

Retrieved from http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/leadership/index.shtml

Since 2007, Google has been the most used search engine on the Internet with 75.2% of the U.S search market share as of December 2014 (Diffen, 2015; Hof, 2015).  Not only does Google dominate the U.S search market, they own and operate many top (and mostly free) internet tools including, but not limited to, Gmail, Orkut, Google+, YouTube, Google Adwords, Google Adsense, Google Analytics, Google News Feed, Google Earth, Blogger, Google Toolbar and more. 

Google owns everything on the Internet including YOU!  I know, I know….that sounds a little ridiculous and cheesy, but, before you click away, allow me explain in further detail.

Google is NOT a Free Service

Even though most of Google’s tools are free to the general Internet-savvy public, each and every consumer action is purposefully designed to make Google money.  The horizontal communication structure of the Internet itself allows many people, groups, and companies to engage in open and free conversation.  Every user that chooses and uses Google to “upload photos, and images, write wall posting and comments, send mail to their contacts, accumulate friends or browse other profiles on Facebook, constitute an audience commodity that is sold to advertisers” (Fuchs, 2013).  Google…

1) Indexes user-generated content and “thereby acting as a meta-exploiter of all user-generated content producers” (aka, you and me) and

2) Relies on users to use Google services to click on ads, send Gmail, upload/watch videos, comment on Blogger, etc. so to gather data on users the use the data (and free labor) to make money off of tools like Adwords and Adsense (Fuchs, 2013).

Welcome to the machine.

Vaidhyanathan says it the best when he says that we are “‘not Google’s customers, we are its product.  We are what Google sells to advertisers’” (Fuchs, 2013).  When all is said and done, Google is an extremely well-run capitalist company that just seems to get more powerful as time moves forward.  With all that power, I know I can’t help but ask….

Why should we be concerned?

Google is very good at keeping it’s brand realistic and positive.  Not every capitalist company has to be “evil”, hence, Google’s genius-ly simple corporate motto “Don’t beEvil” (Why didn’t I think of that?) (Google, 2015).  But after a little bit of research, a couple weaknesses in Google’s structure have become apparent:

All Checks, No Balances
The Internet is already highly unregulated.  It was made that way.  This lack of Internet regulation by any government leaves Google’s power at the hands of the company with the most Internet market share, which is Google.  “The global nature of Google’s services allows the company to evade and bypass national regulations” (Fuchs, 2013).  The combination of this power and “Internet anarchy” leaves Google’s expertise with all of the checks and no balances. 

With little regulation comes loads of Internet fraud.  In Scott Pelley’s 2014 60 Minute Interview with FBI Director, James Comey, Comey himself expressed worry that Google and Apple have “the power to upend the rule of law” (2014).  He states “‘The notion that we would market devices that would allow someone to place themselves beyond the law, troubles me a lot. As a country, I don't know why we would want to put people beyond the law.... The notion that people have devices, again, that with court orders, based on a showing of probable cause in a case involving kidnapping or child exploitation or terrorism, we could never open that phone? My sense is that we've gone too far when we've gone there.’” (Pelley, 2014).

There are pros and cons to every technological advancement, but what happens when technological advancements go too far?  Can we fully just trust Google to make good decisions for us? For our culture? For the world? 

Google’s potential to manipulate users viewpoints is already beginning.  Here’s one example:

The Knowledge Graph
We all love it…well, we’re forced to use it.  The Knowledge Graph is the algorithm that suggests searches for us AND goes beyond word to word recognition.  Google’s video will help you understand a little better: 

Yeah!  Alright!  Amazing technology!  Geniuses!  But wait a minute, while my search life get a little simpler and faster, isn’t Google essentially completing my sentences for me and assuming what I want to know?  While this is wonderful, this control can also be dangerous.  Vang points out that the Knowledge Graph allows Google to “decisively puts itself in the shoes of a traditional editor of knowledge rather than a mere disseminator of links” (2013).  This position enables Google to hold a “a significantly powerful position in both access to web-based information and the digitization of the world's books, Google is more than any other corporation a force to be reckoned with in our everyday lives.” (Vang, 2013).   As former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, explained the concept of Google’s role in our world, he stated “I don't believe people want Google to answer their questions [...] People want Google to tell them what to do next.” (Vang, 2013).  Doesn’t that sound like mind control to you?

This “Filter Bubble” requires much critical thinking in order to decipher which information is good and which is bad.  As Internet users, we would like to trust that everything Google finds for us is true, unbiased, and objective, but that is not always the case…and that is where it gets dangerous (Pariser, 2011).  Pariser states that unlike traditional media like TV New Channels and the radio allow you to make a “decision about what kind of filter to use to make sense of the world.  It’s an active process, and putting on a pair of tinted glasses, you can guess how the editor’ leaning shapes your perception.” However, with engines like Google, “you don’t make the same kind of choice with personalized filters.  They come to you—and because they drive up profits for the websites that use them, they’ll become harder and harder to avoid.” (Pariser, 2011). 

Google’s Transparency is Rather Foggy

Google has a whole website dedicated to their code of conduct and an entire page dedicated to their Transparency in U.S. Public Policy, but their work practices suggest that their best interest may not be fully geared to user privacy.  Here are some global examples of these foggy situations:

No CAPTCHA reCAPCHA
CAPTCHA codes are those annoying boxes added at the end of registration pages, online checkout carts, etc. that filter out real humans from online spiders and bots.  You type in a series of letters and numbers and, in an instant if you’re lucky, you’ve completed your purchase.  No CAPTCHA reCAPCHA is Google’s attempt to optimize the CAPTCHA design.  However, AdTruth has found that  “Google’s No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA appears to be collecting personally identifiable additional data beyond mere behavioral cues about their users” to determine exactly which human you are.” (O’Reilly, 2015).  When asked about user privacy futher, Google couldn’t give the media a straight answer both online and off. 

Google Street View
Meanwhile, in Germany, a Google Street View car was driving around and simultaneously taking pictures for online viewing.  While this tool was accepted in the United States, “it elicited immediate objections in Europe, where privacy laws are tough.  [Historically] The Nazis used government data to systematically pursue Jews and other unwanted groups. The East German secret police, the Stasi, similarly controlled data to monitor perceived enemies”(O’Brien & Streitfeld, 2012).  When asked about this highly sensitive topic further, “Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counselor, wrote in a blog post on April 27, 2010, that the company had not previously revealed this part of Street View because, ‘We did not think it was necessary’” (O’Brien & Streitfeld, 2012).  A BLOG POST?? You’re only response is via blog post?? Really, Google…really?  Not only does this communication lack transparency through proper explanation and assurance, this tells the world that Google is not sensitive to international cultures.  Good or evil….? 

So, What Can Be Done?

Despite their few flaws, I believe that 1) Google really does have good intentions with everything that they do (it’s easy to be a critic) and 2) these ethical dilemmas can be easily intercepted if executed early and can, simultaneously, strengthen the Google brand.  The following solutions can help Google become a leader in ethical Internet practices and protect users from online deception:

Establish a Google Ethics Board/Committee
Google currently has a written, public code of conduct and corporate motto, but is that enough?  A formal Board of Ethics can help Google enforce ethical practices with every tool Google develops and to ensure Google’s accountability.  Currently, Google’s acquisition of DeepMind Technologies has driven Google to create an Ethics Board for this particular branch (Efrati, 2014).  The wheels are in motion.  Google can do this for all of it’s other branches, products, online tools as well.

Users Unite and Become More Accountable for Searches
To put it simply, “the power Google has to know us and shape how we use information is emblematic not of their corporate ambitions, but of the power of information, and the general public's carelessness with its use.” (Vang, 2013).  As we have seen, Google has the power to manipulate the masses with information, however, individuals can overcome this power through education.  Knowing how to use Google’s tools, how to navigate the Internet properly, which articles and ads to trust/not trust, etc. can protect you from fraud, attacks, and general deception.  Recognizing how powerful searches, Google, and other online tools are is just half the battle to win the Internet.  Education is the only way to break the cycle of carelessness and ignorance. 

Let's use the internet to teach each other.  If you have any thoughts on this vast and powerful topic (or think I could use some education), please don’t hesitate to comment below!

References:

Diffen. (2015).  Google vs. Yahoo. Retrieved from http://www.diffen.com/difference/Google_vs_Yahoo

Efrati, A.  (27 January 2014).  Google Beat Facebook for DeepMind, Creates Ethics Board.  The Information.  Retrieved from https://www.theinformation.com/google-beat-facebook-for-deepmind-creates-ethics-board

Fuchs, C. (2013). A contribution to the critique of the political economy of Google. Fast Capitalism. Retrieved from http://fuchs.uti.at/wp-content/uploads/Google_FastCapitalism.pdf

Google.  (2015).  U.S. Public Policy: Transparency.  Retrieved from http://www.google.com/publicpolicy/transparency.html

Harshman, E. M., Gilsinan, J.F., Fisher, J.E., Yeager, F. C. (May 2005).  Professional Ethics in a Virtual World: The Impact of the Internet on Traditional Notions of Professionalism.  Journal of Business Ethics (vol. 58, p. 227-236).  Drodrecht, Netherlands; Springer Science & Business Media.

Hof, R. (8 January 2015).  Why Google's Search Market Share Loss To Yahoo Means Pretty Much Nothing.  Forbes.  Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2015/01/08/why-googles-search-market-share-loss-to-yahoo-means-pretty-much-nothing/

O’Brien, K. J., Streitfeld, D. (22 May 2012).  Google Privacy Inquiries Get Little Cooperation.  The New York Times.  Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/technology/google-privacy-inquiries-get-little-cooperation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&

O’Reilly, L. (20 February 2015). Google's new CAPTCHA security login raises 'legitimate privacy concerns'.  Business Insider.  Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/google-no-captcha-adtruth-privacy-research-2015-2

Pariser, E. (2011).  The Filter Bubble (p. 10). London, England; Penguin Books, Ltd.

Pelley, S. (12 October 2014).  FBI Director on Privacy, Electronic Surveillance. 60 Minutes.  Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-director-james-comey-on-privacy-and-surveillance/

Vang, K. J. (2013).  Ethics of Google's Knowledge Graph: some considerations.  Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society. (vol. 11, p. 245-260).  Bingley, UK; Emerald Group Publishing, ltd.

FoxMetrics vs. Google Analytics - What You Need To Know

Retrieved from http://tomfishburne.com/2014/08/targetmarket.html

Google analytics is great.  It’s a free, analytical tool (with free online training) that can easily be applied to almost every website measuring most activities, including demographics, of any visitor you would want to track.  Why would you need anything else?? 

There are so many web analytics tools currently in the marketplace that offer what Google Analytics offers.  Most of the time, these tools come with a price.  This post will analyze one of the Internet’s top web analytics tools and their use in this generation’s data-driven marketplace. 

FoxMetrics 

Founded in 2012, FoxMetrics is a web analytics firm that offers services focused on tracking individual customer data in real time.  Their software is designed for small to mid-sized businesses with reports that integrate with select, internal Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software (e.g. Salesforce) (Technology Advice, 2015).  The tool creates live profiles for each customer that visits your site. 

FoxMetrics AND Google Analytics (The Similarities)

Both Google Analytics and FoxMetrics provide users with real time reports that track a visitor’s 30 minute session as they are looking at your website.  Before going any further, I can already hear you asking, “So what?  Why would I want to use real time data?”  Well, as a matter of fact, real time data can be helpful in a variety of specific ways: (Gray, 2015)

1.     Troubleshooting and testing the effectiveness of UTM parameters (i.e. tracked tags added to a URL) and created events (i.e. actions performed by your customers)

**ProTip: In order to “discover what your visitors do inside your page and reduce your bounce rate”, Boyce advises that you use events to track customer actions that “really matter to you, be it signup for your newsletter, checking out your video or other in-page activities” (2014). 

2.     Monitoring temporal campaigns, and the activity/conversations they create, as they unfold.

3.     Identifying and strategically positioning your trending content.

4.     Run A/B tests of new features on your website (however, only for high-traffic sites)

In addition to real time reports, both FoxMetrics and Google Analytics measure user data, specifically demographics, visits, events along with page views, customer events, unique visits, visitors, files, bounce rates, exit rates and all other important web analytics (FoxMetrics, 2015)

FoxMetrics VS. Google Analytics (The Differences)

While FoxMetrics and Google Analytics share many of the same reports, FoxMetrics offers it’s customer’s more precise, real time measurements. 

More Precise

FoxMetrics is more precise and they don’t hesitate to advertise it.  According to FoxMetrics, their software “should be used to track the data that really matters and actionable with precise metrics. If you wish to track traditional analytics such as page views please do not hesitate to do so, you are more than welcome - we just encourage you to use other packages that were intended for that purpose such as Google Analytics”(2015).   The only reason your business should pay for FoxMetrics is if they want to get more intimate with real time reports and micro segmenting visitors. 

Visitor-centric

FoxMetrics is organized around the customer, aka, your websites visitors.  Their tools allow your business to “track what your customers are doing on your website in real-time” as well as each “customer life-cycle including where they are clicking, what e-mails they are opening, what products they are purchasing, and more.” (Sparks, 2014).  Furthermore, FoxMetrics allows your business to seamlessly connect select CRM and email platforms to their web analytics tool.  The end product is a “thorough report showing the actions of your user's while they are using your application” (Sparks, 2014). 

Support

FoxMetrics offers and encourages it’s customers to use their 24/7 support center accessible online or via phone (however, phone support is for the high-rollers only).  It’s 24/7 support includes detailed articles available for search within their website along with free email support for every plan.  Google Analytics, on the other hand, offers video tutorials in addition to written support via Google’s support center.  While they don’t offer easily accessible support via phone, their support is quite extensive. 

Mobile Tracking?

FoxMetrics is very vague in explaining whether or not their tool can track data within mobile applications.  Google, on the other hand, offers Google Analytics specifically for Mobile Apps.  This tool is free to use and looks to be very helpful for those who wish to measure their mobile data.  If you have any experience using Google Analytics for Mobile Apps, please leave a comment below describing how it makes you feel and whether or not its effective. 

Price

Of course, we all know that Google Analytics is free while FoxMetrics is available for a fee.  Different metrics can be accessed within different plans ranging from $20 to $120 (FoxMetrics, 2015).  Full access to all FoxMetrics benefits are available for Enterprise users at custom pricing. 

Is it Worth it?

If your website has high traffic and tracking individual customer actions is on the top of your priority list (in line with your KPIs), FoxMetrics can be a useful tool for you.   While FoxMetrics positions itself as an affordable option for small businesses looking to track real time data, small businesses may find that specialized real time reports aren’t as effective for them.  Nevertheless, even FoxMetrics encourages their customers to use Google Analytics alongside their tool for even more effective results.  

Can you find any other tools that provide top-notch, real time analytics?   Feel free to share your thoughts on the effectiveness of real time reports below. 

References:

Boyce, P. (11 August 2014).  Why Your Google Analytics Bounce Rate is Wrong.  Woorank Blog.  Retrieved from http://blog.woorank.com/2014/08/why-your-google-analytics-bounce-rate-is-wrong/

FoxMetrics. (2015).  FoxMetrics Documentation.  Retrieved from http://foxmetrics.com/documentation

Gray, C.M. (2015).  The Marketer’s Guide to Real Time Reports in Google Analytics.  KISSMetrics.  Retrieved from https://blog.kissmetrics.com/real-time-reports-google-analytics/

Sparks, C. (11 March 2014).  10 Great Social and Web Analytics Tools.  Search Engine Journal.  Retrieved from http://www.searchenginejournal.com/10-great-social-web-analytics-tools/90629/

Technology Advice. (2015).  FoxMetrics: About FoxMetrics.  Retrieved from http://technologyadvice.com/products/foxmetrics-reviews/