“Here’s a simple fact of life for anyone looking at web metrics: if someone logs on to your site, initiatess and completes a transaction that puts revenue in the ledger column marked “income,” you’re good to go. Anything you have on your site that adds to the time it takes a customer to find and buy your products gets in the way of this most important metric.
“Now go out and sin no more.”
Jim’s point is well taken, but slightly off the mark. Customer satisfaction is certainly a noble quantifier of site performance — and the ubiquitous BizRate or SurveyMonkey survey is one blunt axe in an online retailer’s tool box. I agree with Jim that the launch of a post transaction survey with a promise of a free subscription to a magazine, or the eternal thanks of the site’s owners, is a pain in the butt.
I have no insights into how one tracks whether or not a completed sale was a good or a negative experience. Jim’s point is that a completed sale is money in the bank, full stop. I am sure our customer satisfaction people would disagree and would try to seek some post-game analysis from the customer to drive improvements.
This speaks to the slipperiness of a site … and in this case, I believe, it is a good thing … the velocity with which I can find and purchase want I came for … and get out …
Hi, I was visited on a couple of occasions by this survey after purchasing products from PC Connection. I will have to say, I did take the free subscriptions. They are free (I think they charge 2.50 for shipping). Since I had made multiple purchases from this site on different occasions, I always filled out the survey and took advantage of the offer. I think I got 15 subscriptions to popular magazines like Town & Country, Esquire, National Geographic, Giant, Maxim, Computer Shopper more for ( I think I got about 15 full year subscriptions for about $37. I think it was well worth it. There is one catch though – you do have to cancel before the subscription is up or your credit card will be charged again for that specific subscription at the full subscription price. Kinda hard to manage cancelling all those subscriptions but if you are dedicated – you can have a nice collection for a year at a really great price.
Thanks for listening!