Search and Offline Conversion Tracking

The power of search and its effects on eCommerce is continuing to spill off of the internet and into the offline retail world.  Recent studies have indicated that a majority of shoppers consider the internet as a research tool, and over half still favor offline methods for buying transactions. 

Studies conducted by iProspect as well as comScore over the 2005 holiday season indicated that 62% of internet shoppers relied on the major search engines (including Google, Yahoo, and MSN) for product info, choices, and merchants in order to make buying decisions (Source: iProspect’s 2006 Post-Holiday Online Shopping Study), while 63% of online shoppers made offline purchases (Source: comScore Networks, 2006) through channels such as the phone and the physical store location as a result of their online research.

With only 37% of searchers making purchases online, statistics reveal a serious lack of offline tracking for online campaigns by marketers.  Without full measurements for offline conversions, the iProspect study points out that search marketers can “cede as much as half their online ROI, and possible future budget dollars, to other marketing channels.”  In other words, search marketing campaigns can be under-budgeted by as much as half due to inaccurate ROI measurements as a result of omitting offline conversions.

Important to note in the comScore study is the differentiation of online and offline conversions by category.  Within six categories (Apparel and accessories, Toys and hobbies, Music Movies and Videos, Consumer electronics, video games and consoles, and jewelry and watches), the Video Games and Consoles category received the most offline conversion rate of 93%, while Apparel and Accessories received the most online conversions at 35%.  Pre-shopping and purchasing behavior, then, also requires analysis of product features by the merchants themselves. After all, purchasing behavior also depends on size, weight, brand, price, and type of experience (i.e. visual or tactile) associated with the product.  Other factors also include delivery time (and whether the products are on-demand buys), online return policies (and offline return options for online purchases), and shipping costs.

What the statistics do not guarantee is that internet users’ research on a specific site actually resulted in offline conversions at the same merchant’s physical retail store, or other offline distribution channel.  Online influences of buyer behavior do also include information on and preference of brands, prices offered by competitors, availability of products offline, and proximity of a merchant’s physical store location to the prospective buyer.

With these variables to consider, how can merchants and marketers effectively track offline buying behavior?

The following are methods that, if implemented throughout various distribution channels and carefully monitored, can result in more accurate tracking of the online to offline buyer process. 

  1. Offer unique codes. These codes can be given to searchers and consumers to redeem via online, phone, or in stores.
  1. Unique pricing. Prices can often serve as tracking codes.  When a customer requests or mentions a certain price, s/he must have seen a specific online ad or site.
  1. Trackable Sales Phone Numbers. Along with pay-per-call campaigns (offered by iProspect and Citysearch, among others), unique phone numbers can be designated for online customers versus offline channels such as catalogs.
  1. Surveys. Conducted online and/or in the physical store regarding buyers’ research behavior (online, word of mouth, media ads, etc), as well as intended/actual method of purchase.
  1. Printable Coupons. Coupons and special offers printed from the Web site can also be fitted with codes (i.e. UPC codes) to track redemption of online promotions at offline locations.
  1. Loyalty Programs.  Implement or boost customer relations management efforts with online loyalty programs (i.e. email promotions and campaigns). 

As the online channel continues to develop in the marketing mix, offline conversion tracking will become even more crucial to effective ROI measurements and efficient budgeting.