Gilt Groupe's Web Analytics Usage - A Success Story

Gilt Groupe is a private e-commerce shopping site based in New York City. The store focuses on flash sales to create the fastest most exciting shopping experience with unparalleled customer service from the moment they enter the site to the delivery of the box at the doorstep. Gilt provides insider access to today’s top designer brands and labels, up to 60% off retail price to members only (Gilt Groupe, 2014). All sales are first come, first serve so members have to be sure to log on early for the 36-48 hour sales. 

Because the company is innately digital it is vital for Gilt to have integrated web analytics in place. This allows the company to focus on taking care of their customers and growing the company and site.

Gilt Groupe implemented Google Analytics in 2011, but has since upgraded to Google Analytics Premium. The company’s main incentives to upgrade were to have access to unsampled data and capture more detailed information at the user level. Having this information would help Gilt make every customer interaction count as much as possible and allow critical business decisions to be made based on statistically sound and stable data.

The first task Gilt took on with Google Analytics Premium was to ensure the information they were gaining was from their full audience, not just a sample of the data. Unsampled reports from Google Analytics Premium has allowed Gilt to obtain a clear view of results from both tests and actual campaigns. The unsampled data results have given Gilt the opportunity to remove uncertainty and act on test and campaign results with confidence (Google Analytics, 2012). This directly reflects the goal to provide impeccable customer service because Gilt can see exactly how their customers are reacting without having to hope or assume a sample of the data is accurate.

In order to examine a wider variety of key metrics and gain a more holistic view of customers, Gilt implemented custom variables. Gilt is currently using more than 20 custom variables, to enable more opportunities for comparison and analysis, as well as A/B testing (Google Analytics, 2012). With the newest release of Universal Analytics by Google, custom variables are now referred to as custom dimensions, but function the same way as custom variables to help answer new questions about how users are interacting with content and devices (Google, 2014).

The custom variables Gilt has been tracking include user IDs, partitions for testing, time stamps, page types, demographics, testing variants, hit times, and more. Gilt has been able to take this data to construct a clickstream and to reconstruct visitor pathing across their different domains, analyze both onsite and external sources of traffic to sales, do site personalization, and view test results in Google Analytics Premium (Google Analytics, 2012). This allows Gilt to track different types of visitors and create content based directly on a specific customer. Gilt has seen an increase in sales and higher site engagement as a result of these tests.

Gilt is also using the clickstream data to create decision models to predict buying behavior of their customers. The detailed data collection about each session related to timing, pricing, sale position, and others allows Gilt to feed theses variables into a model and predict the possibility of a purchase (Google Analytics, 2012). This creates more time through efficiency and more time for analyzing the site, customer behavior, and making decisions rather than strictly spending time collecting data. 

Being an ecommerce site, Gilt really focuses on sales funnels to ensure success. To fill their sales funnel from top to bottom, Gilt has implemented attribution modeling. Google Analytics Premium’s attribution modeling tool allows users to quickly view and compare the results of different attribution models, as well as understand how users pass between different marketing touch points (Google Analytics, 2012).  Ana Kravitz, Gilt’s web analytics senior manger said, “GA really shines here.” And she further explained the feature was easier to use than competing tools available (Google Analytics, 2012).

Using attribution modeling has helped Gilt learn the last click model brings in a high amount of affiliate revenue. But, using the first-click model, affiliate revenue is much lower. In the aspect of business and marketing decision-making, Gilt can see the danger of basing marketing efforts solely on last-click results. The tool has showed reducing other marketing expenditures to focus on affiliate marketing would reduce the ability to acquire new users and Gilt would slowly lose customers through attrition. But, marketing programs such as referral generate new customers and rarely get credit for last-click purchases (Google Analytics, 2012). Currently, Gilt’s site and marketing campaigns are built heavily on recommendations and trying to gain new customers. It is beneficial for Gilt to see in the funnels where visitors are coming from for this reason, whether it is email campaigns, link networks, social media pages, or others.

To help sell products more efficiently through the flash sales, Steve Jacobs has implemented software that could meet the nature of the company’s constantly changing inventory. The software created helps Gilt adjust inventory by analyzing customer clicks on links to brands, colors, sizes, styles, and other categories users have purchased and matches that information to the characteristics of the day’s merchandise and predicts which products consumers might be interested in. Then, members get customized alerts about product offers based on the predictive software-driven recommendations (Boulton, 2012). Customer data is collected from the time the customer interacts with the web site until they make a purchase. This software really helps Gilt with personalization and helping people find and discover what they are interested in.

In theory, Gilt could use paid online media to increase their sales and members, and ultimately enhance their analytics. This would allow the company to see if they really need to spend the money on paid media, or if their referral programs and social interaction are enough. The analytics portion of the paid search media could show keywords and categories that Gilt is missing out in. Or, specific brands that could show for a successful flash sale. But, overall Gilt has a strong analytics program and strong implementation plan company wide.

References:

Boulton, Clint. (2012). Gilt groupe’s flash sales directed by analytic software. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2012/06/18/gilt-groupe%E2%80%99s-flash-sales-directed-by-analytic-software/

Gilt Groupe. (2014). About gilt. Retrieved from http://www.gilt.com/company/main

Google. (2014). Universal analytics usage guidelines. Retrieved from https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2795983?hl=en

Google Analytics. (2012). Gilt groupe embraces the advanced functions of google analytics premium. Retrieved from http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/analytics/customers/pdfs/gilt.pdf

Google's Privacy Policy & What Does It Really Mean?

Last year, Google changed how you log into its many products when it released the one account sign in. 

We’ve all seen it,

“One password. All of Google.”

“Want to enjoy the best of Google? Just stay signed in. One username and password is all you need to unlock more features from services you use every day, like Gmail, Maps, Google+, and YouTube.”

It is nice to be able to use so many services using a single username and password, but do you ever think about how “dangerous” it is, or how much information Google is actually getting from you because of this? Using a single account to store your email, calendar, contacts, documents, photos, videos, music, search history, bookmarks, financial information, location history, Google+ posts, blogs, apps, and undoubtedly much more – have you taken a second to let all of that sink in?

Going back to storing all of those things in one single account, think about the information that can be learned about you based on your activity from that one single account. I know for me personally, anyone could get to know me very well based on my Google activity.

Let’s talk specifically about the social networking site Google+, because at this point if you want to have a Gmail account, or watch a YouTube video, you have a Google+ login. As a social network, Google+ hasn’t picked up much steam, especially in comparison to a network such as Facebook. But, Google+ is imperative to the future of Google, and Google is using that to its advantage.

Google says the site has 540 million users that are active within the social networking site, but only a little over half of these users actually visit (Clark, 2014). Some of these users, or former users, are raising concern about the company forcing people to use Google under one account. What is the reason behind the concern? – Google’s access to information, and their use of the information to target ads. Privacy issues have been raised because of the way brand advertisers for Google target ads to users based on searches, friends, and their likes on Google+ (Clark, 2014).

Google does address their stance on privacy in the Policies & Principles section of www.google.com. Their statement reads,

“At Google, we pursue ideas and products that often push the limits of existing technology. As a company that acts responsibly, we work hard to make sure any innovation is balanced with the appropriate level of privacy and security for others.”

Their Privacy Principles are as follows:

1.       Use information to provide our users with valuable products and services.

2.       Develop products that reflect strong privacy standards and practices.

3.       Make the collection of personal information transparent.

4.       Give users meaningful choices to protect their privacy.

5.       Be a responsible steward of the information we hold.

In order to keep Google’s websites and services free of charge, Google does use and sell advertising. But, Google does state they work hard to make sure the ads are safe, unobtrusive, and as relevant as possible through the use of cookies, IP addresses, and anonymous identifiers (Google, 2014). And, Google claims to terminate the accounts of hundreds of thousands of publishers and advertisers that violate policies each year.

But, how great of a job does Google do at tracking advertisers and actually terminating the account?

Just this past January Google agreed to several concessions of being in violation of Canada’s privacy rights for the use of sensitive health history in remarketing campaigns. Two years ago the Office of the Privacy Commissioner issued guidelines stating ad targeting based on health, financial information, or other interested that are considered “sensitive” is prohibited. And, Google’s privacy policy states it “will not associate sensitive interested categories with your cookie and will not use these categories when showing you interest based ads” (Marvin, 2014).

In response to the  case, Google blamed advertisers for not following the policies and stated remarketing criteria and user lists are determined by the advertiser directly. Google requires all advertisers using this platform agree to specific policies, which prohibit all forms of interest based on advertising involving sensitive categories, including the use of user lists based on “health or medical information” (Marvin, 2014).

After providing detailed information on how it monitors ads and advertisers to prevent abuses, Canada’s privacy office found the monitoring tools “were not scalable and had demonstrable shortcomings.” As a result, Google said it will upgrade its automated review systems by June 2014.

This specific case makes it clear that although Google has policies in place to keep information private and to keep transparency at the top of their concerns, it falls by the wayside.

Google has also recently announced its acquisition of Nest, a smart thermostat and smoke alarm device manufacturing company and users are already questioning what Google will do with the data from these. This is growing to be an interesting topic because Nest told users, “Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and that will not change” (Crum, 2014). The main question at hand though – will Nest fall under the veil of Google’s broad privacy policy that enables it to use daya from one of its products with its other products for reasons?

At what point do you feel enough information and data collection is enough? Or, do you feel that because Google gives us a lot of products and services to use for free the data collection is just “part of it?”

For me personally, I would rather see advertisements that are targeted towards my interests, purchases, and activities than random unrelated ads that do not connect with me or my interests – especially if I am going to see ads either way. And yes, as a marketer I see the value of interest targeting from a business standpoint too. I do enjoy being able to use Google’s products without having to pay but I don’t necessarily believe it is “part of it” – I think even if these were paid services, we would still see advertisements of some form and our data and information would still be being collected.

References

Clark, Laura. (2014). Google using google plus to its advantage. Retrieved from http://guardianlv.com/2014/02/google-using-google-plus-to-its-advantage/

Crum, Chris. (2014). Google enabled advertisers to target users based on sensitive health info. Retrieved from http://www.webpronews.com/google-enabled-advertisers-to-target-users-with-their-sensitive-health-info-2014-01

Google. (2014). Advertising. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/technologies/ads/

Marcin, Ginny. (2014). Google remarketing ads found to violate Canadian privacy law; to revamp ad review system by june. Retrieved from http://searchengineland.com/google-remarketing-ads-found-to-violate-canadian-privacy-law-to-revamp-ad-review-system-by-june-182104

Google Analytics vs. KISSmetrics

KISSmetrics takes a somewhat different and more targeted approach to analytics in comparison to Google Analytics – KISSmetrics tracks real people – where they come from, what they do, and who purchases.

“When we understand our customers, we understand how to grow our business”

KISSmetrics allows brands to discover where the best customers originally come from by connecting all of the historical data from anonymous visitors to a customer profile as soon as they become a “customer”.

The data KISSmetrics provides on real customers allows brands and business owners to see which features on the site are actually being used. But, not only what is being used, exact orders and events triggered by individual users are also being tracked. KISSmetrics shows how a real person uses the site.

Tracking customers through KISSmetrics shows which traffic sources new, and existing customers come from.  Customer analytics ties the data back to an actual person, and refrains from tracking visitors, sessions, and visits (KISSmetrics, 2014).

Features KISSmetrics Tracks from the convenience of a dashboard:

1.     The effectiveness of marketing channels.

2.     The time it takes for a user to convert.

3.     Engagement metrics with Cohort Analysis & Remarketing.

KISSmetrics features reporting based on person-centric data, comparisons of customer behaviors, and real-time tracking. It is intended for freelancers, mid-sized businesses, and small businesses but is not specifically built for large corporations. KISSmetrics does not support any language but English, so would not be a great international analytics choice (GetApp, 2013).

There is a monthly charge for KISSmetrics starting at $99/month. The main benefit and differentiator of KISSmetrics is its ability to capture what happens before a customer becomes a customer, and ties that anonymous activity to their known activity once they have become a customer.

Google Analytics provides the complete package when it comes to web analytics and tracking website statistics. It provides reporting and data across advertising and campaign performance, analysis and testing, audience characteristics and behavior, cross-device and cross-platform measurement, data collection management, mobile app usage, product integrations, sales and conversions, and site and app performance (Google, 2014).

Overall, Google Analytics allows brands and businesses to measure sales and conversions, as well as give insights into how visitors use the site, how they arrived on the site, and how to keep them returning. It is built for freelancers, large enterprises, mid-sized businesses, non-profits, public administrators, and small businesses (GetApp, 2013). Google Analytics is a much more broadly used and accepted form of analytics tracking than KISSmetrics.

If a brand is working in international business, Google Analytics is the choice between the two.  The tool provides multiple language translations and is supported across a variety of countries.

A key benefit to Google Analytics is the product integration across all of Google’s products including AdWords, AdSense, Google Display Network, Google Tag Manager, Google+, and Wildfire, and the free pricing plan. Unless a site is generating more than 10 million hits per month, the analytics program is free (GetApp, 2013).

Both Google Analytics and KISSmetrics provide data funnels to watch customers make their way to a purchase, as well as “events” that can be tagged throughout the site. They also both show the acquisition through social media channels and referrals.

KISSmetrics is lacking the site metrics that Google Analytics provides. Including but not limited to, page views, bounce rate, site speed, and exit rate. But, Google Analytics lacks the in-depth customer data that KISSmetrics can provide.

The good news is…

KISSmetrics is a great analytics tool to use in conjunction with Google Analytics. Using the two of these together creates the ultimate web analytics solution with the powerful page statistics and data from Google Analytics and the layer of people-tracking Google Analytics lacks. The programs work well with an API integration and the process to set them up together is simple, and well worth it for business initiatives and to meet conversion goals (Poston, n.d.).

While both programs can track how people come to your site, which channels work best to bring them there, what the conversion rate is, and when people slip out of the sales funnel Google Analytics just gives the clicks that are not associate with a specific person. KISSmetrics relates those clicks with a person, and brings the data to life. It allows business owners and brands to see exactly which customers take advantage of a trial, when specific people slip out of the sales funnel, and which customers are using which features of the stie (Poston, n.d.).

But, the full package of data is not there unless integrated with Google Analytics. This combination gives site data and all of the functionalities of Google Analytics like integration between products, clean easy reporting, creative testing, the use of goals and events, and the specific integration with Webmaster Tools along with being able to call out and track specific customers and see exactly what they are doing on the site rather than having to generalize by clicks alone.

Each analytics platform has its benefits and each is able to provide users with unique features. But, at the end of the day the true “winner” comes down to what the end goals of the user are. If feasible, it is ultimately best to use the platforms in conjunction with each other but, if not, ensure the business goals and plans are at the top of the decision maker’s mind when choosing a analytics platform.

References:

GetApp. (2013). Key features of google analytics. Retrieved from http://www.getapp.com/google-analytics-application

GetApp. (2013). Key features of kissmetrics. Retrieved from http://www.getapp.com/kissmetrics-application

Google. (2014). Analytics features. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/analytics/features/

KISSmetrics. (2014). Features. Retrieved from https://www.kissmetrics.com/features

Poston, Leslie. (n.d.) How to combine kissmetrics with google analytics. Retrieved from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-combine-kissmetrics-with-google-analytics.html