What Digital KPIs Don't Tell Us about Shopper Behavior

During the Marketing Analytics & Data Science Conference, Vicki Draper, Director, Consumer Analytics & Research, AOL, presented "The Missing Metrics Link: What Digital KPIs Don't Tell Us about Shopper Behavior."

AOL's latest shopping research reveals how digital KPIs don't tell the full story when it comes to online shopping. Emotion drives online shopping more than utility, but traditional digital metrics are not effective at capturing emotion. Metrics must be redesigned to better measure shopper intent.

Here are some consumer behavior insights Vicki discussed:
- Mobile isn't mobile! 68% of all smartphone minutes are at home.
- People are shopping all the time. 92% shop online weekly or more often.
- 42% of millennials browse online in the vehicle category weekly or more often.

A strong brand is more important than ever. AOL's research shows that 66% of shopping is emotionally driven (expertise browsing, "me-time" browsing), while 30% is intent driven (deal browsing, problems and solutions browsing). Boredom browsing makes up 11%.

This means that it's critical to measure the emotional benefits of your digital brand, retail or ad experience. To do this, you must:
- Start with the conventional wisdom.
- Challenge convention by combining analytics with primary research to find the missing links.
- Measure the right KPIs.

Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC is an Accredited Business Communicator specializing in corporate communication best practices.

Connect with Peggy on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and on her website at www.starrybluebrilliance.com.