CLICKTALE WEB-ANALYTICS BENCHMARK Q2 2013 GIANTS STILL AHEAD IN WEB ANALYTICS 1
Contents Overview... 3 Scope, Metrics and Methodology... 3 Findings... 4 Rate: Lower by Two Thirds... 4 Active Time and Time on Page: Shorter Visits, More Activity... 5 Conclusions... 6 Benchmark Tables... 7 Next Steps... 10 Questions?... 10 Like what you read?... 10 Want to get started?... 10 About ClickTale... 10 2
Overview The world s top ecommerce websites outperform their smaller peers three to one on bounce rate. They manage to get users twice as active, even though they spend less time onsite. What s their secret? Can a small, guerilla ecommerce website really go head to head with the industry s giants? If we look at the web-analytics and user-experience metrics for small ecommerce sites as a group, the numbers reveal that smaller websites still have a long way to go. According to data collected by ClickTale on ecommerce clients, websites that are among Alexa s top 10,000 perform much better compared with their less mature peers: They have one third the bounce rate of smaller websites Visitors spend only 70 seconds on a page on average, compared to three minutes in other websites; this is a good indication that they find what they are looking for faster During their brief visit, visitors are active 23% of the time compared with only 12%-13% in other websites This report reviews some of the reasons that enable the world s top ecommerce websites to remain ahead of the game. It dives into ecommerce web-analytics data to explain what makes these top websites more successful. Global web-analytics benchmarks are included at the end of the report. These tables summarize the performance of the websites by industry and country, as well as according to bounce rate, time on page, active time and scroll reach. Scope, Metrics and Methodology For the purpose of this study, ClickTale analyzed data from thousands of ecommerce websites from April to June 2013. The study focused on three metrics: Time on page the amount of time (in minutes or seconds) visitors spend on a website page. This can also be referred to as engagement time. Active time the amount of time a visitor is actively engaging with a page by moving the mouse, clicking, scrolling, and/or entering text. rate the percentage of visitors that view only one page of a website and immediately leave. rate is divided into three main categories: Hard defines visitors who viewed a single page of a website (within a predefined range of dates) and had an engagement time of less than 4 seconds. Hard-bounce visitors are usually visitors who arrived at a site by mistake, expecting completely different content from what they receive. These visitors bounce immediately and are highly unlikely to intentionally return. Medium defines visitors who viewed a single page of a website (within a predefined range of dates) and had an engagement time of 4-10 seconds. Medium-bounce visitors could very well be visitors who were looking for specific content that they did not automatically find on the page they landed on. Changing the landing page or its content may increase their engagement time in the future. Soft defines visitors who viewed a single page of a website (within a predefined range of dates) and had an engagement time of more than 10 seconds. Soft-bounce visitors probably intended to reach the specific website. They spent some time reading the content and were actively engaged (moving their mouse, for example). They are probably interested in what the site offers, and may be targeted so that next time they do not bounce but engage even more. 3
Website size was assessed using the Alexa rank. A subsidiary of Amazon, Alexa provides a global ranking and information about over 30 million websites. Alexa ranks websites through a panel of millions of Internet users using one of over 25,000 browser extensions; it is considered one of the top online ranking indexes. results were weighted by visits. Findings The benchmark tables point to some interesting results, which are explained in more detail in the sections that follow: Large ecommerce websites have a bounce rate of only 9.4% compared with 34% bounce rate in smaller sites Visitors to large ecommerce sites are twice as active and engaged with their webpages They remain less time on their pages as they find what they are looking for faster Rate: Lower by Two Thirds Designing and maintaining a good ecommerce website is a costly endeavor. Yet, in addition to the investment in the artwork, a Content Management System (CMS), databases and fast servers, it appears that there is an advantage to size, which makes large websites more successful and helps them outperform smaller ones. According to the study, the bounce rate of top ecommerce websites is much lower than for the rest of the industry. The percentage of visitors that bounce from the giants' pages is 9.4% only, versus 34.8% that stay and may convert. Chart 1: ecommerce Rate by Size 6 5 4 3 2 1 52.7% 27.7% 25.1% 9.4% Higher than 10k 10-50k 50k-100k Lower than 100k Alexa Rank n = 147; data: Apr-Jun 2013 Many metrics depend on the business' objectives; conversions, for example, can be anywhere from signing up for a newsletter to purchasing an item for thousands of dollars. However, bounce rate is one of the simplest metrics. Avinash Kaushik calls it the sexiest metric ever, because it is self-explanatory and the easiest way to visualize user experience. At the same time, bounce rate is one of the most powerful web-analytics metrics because it gives a single number that accounts for all the traffic that has the potential to convert. rs were not created equal, however. Some people bounce immediately, while others engage with the page, read the content and only then decide that they did not find what they were looking for and leave. This is why ClickTale developed three types of bounce, hard bounce, medium bounce and soft bounce (for definitions, see Scope, Metrics and Methodology), with Total being the sum of all hard, medium and soft bounces. 4
The lower bounce rate continues in favor of large ecommerce websites even on soft bounce. Only 6.4% of visitors bounce in websites that are ranked higher than 10,000 in Alexa, versus 23.9% of visitors on other websites. Chart 2: ecommerce -Rate Distribution n = 147; data: Apr-Jun 2013 Overall, when looking at the distribution of ecommerce sites by bounce rate, the majority of websites have less than 35% bounce rate. There also seems to be another concentration (though less prevalent) of websites with very high bounce rates, whereby more than 20 websites show a bounce rate of over 75%. Active Time and Time on Page: Shorter Visits, More Activity Lower bounce rate for large ecommerce websites does point to better user experience, but understanding the exact reasons for it warrants looking at some additional metrics, which can infer the level of activity in each visit. Short time on page, for example, can indicate that users leave the site too quickly; when combined with low bounce rate, however, it actually indicates that users find what they are looking for faster. Time spent in the homepage in large websites is around 70 seconds, compared with 200 seconds in websites with a lower Alexa rank. Chart 3: Time on Page by Size (in sec) 250 200 196.4 171.5 227.9 150 100 50 0 69.5 Higher than 10k 10-50k 50k-100k Lower than 100k Alexa Rank n = 147; data: Apr-Jun 2013 5
Although they spend less time on a page, visitors to large ecommerce website are much more active. Proprietary ClickTale algorithms allow measuring the length of time that users remain active on a page, including engaging with a page by moving their mouse, clicking, scrolling or entering text. Visitors of large ecommerce websites tend to spend 23% of their time on the site being active, compared with only 12%-13% in smaller websites. Overall, users spend around 16 seconds active on the homepage of a large ecommerce website compared with 25 seconds on the homepage of a smaller site. Chart 4: Share of Active Time by Size 25% 23.2% 2 15% 1 5% 12. 12.4% 13.4% Higher than 10k 10-50k 50k-100k lower than 100k Alexa Rank n = 147; data: Apr-Jun 2013 Conclusions Combining lower bounce rate, lower time on page and higher share of active time indicates that large ecommerce websites have deciphered some very successful formula for giving users what they want. How do they do that? The ClickTale benchmark found evidence of two main reasons higher investment in testing and optimization and higher share of returning visitors. Higher investment in testing and optimization larger ecommerce sites typically have in place at least one optimization tool in addition to ClickTale. Many also have a dedicated in-house team for testing and optimization. As demonstrated by the benchmark, dedication pays off. Higher share of returning visitors large websites have nearly 52% return visitors compared with only 25% in the ecommerce industry in general. Returning visitors are less likely to bounce and already familiar with the site's structure, which results in shorter visits and lower bounce rate. As demonstrated by the benchmark, as far as ecommerce is concerned, the industry s 500-pound gorillas outperform their smaller peers three to one on bounce rate. They manage to get users twice as active, even though they spend less time on site. Notwithstanding, smaller websites have something that the industry giants don not the ability to come up with and test innovative designs and concepts. The first step on their journey to get in the same league as the giants should be to ally with a reliable optimization partner. 6
Benchmark Tables When it comes to web analytics metrics, money still makes the world go round. Financial websites tend to have the lowest bounce rate and the highest active time. On average, global bounce rate is 3 whereas active time is 1. Web Analytics Statistics by Industry (time in sec) Industry Time on Page Active Time % Active Time Scroll Reach Soft Medium Hard Total Business 356.2 28.3 8. 53.5% 15. 4.2% 4.2% 23.4% Culture & Entertainment 351.4 32.2 9.2% 49.3% 35.7% 8.2% 3.3% 47.2% Dating 253.6 38.7 15.3% 49. 18.3% 3.2% 3.6% 25. Education 441.6 25.8 5.8% 53.4% 22.2% 8.9% 6.5% 37.6% Financial 115.6 51.2 44.3% 86.8% 4.1% 2. 0.8% 6.9% Gambling 50.8 6.6 13. 29.2% 10.2% 5.3% 12.9% 28.4% Games 194.9 56.5 29. 40.2% 19.5% 4.8% 3.7% 28. Health 286.4 51.7 18.1% 48.9% 31.8% 5.3% 4.8% 41.8% Jobs 251.1 27.3 10.9% 44.3% 34.1% 11.8% 7.6% 53.5% Media News & Blogs 228.0 42.7 18.7% 42.1% 24.5% 3. 2.2% 29.7% Real Estate 240.2 23.2 9.6% 41.6% 31.1% 8.9% 6.4% 46.4% Reference 293.5 34.2 11.7% 36.6% 42.4% 3.8% 3. 49.1% ecommerce 155.4 22.3 14.3% 49.6% 13.9% 3.3% 3.6% 20.7% Sports 224.5 23.9 10.6% 57.9% 18.4% 4.9% 3.5% 26.8% Technology 397.6 24.5 6.2% 48.8% 19.2% 7.3% 7.2% 33.7% Travel 161.4 30.7 19. 48.3% 14.6% 3.4% 2.1% 20.2% Vehicles 255.8 14.2 5.5% 52.8% 4.5% 1.5% 1.2% 7.3% Other 299.9 29.9 10. 53.4% 22.5% 5.9% 4.8% 33.2% Total 293.9 29.1 9.9% 51.5% 20.2% 5.4% 4.8% 30.4% The Financial, Automobile and Travel industries tend to keep users browsing more than one page. On the other hand, Jobs and Entertainment tend to get the highest bounce. Rate by Industry 6 5 4 3 2 1 Total 7
Financial, Games and Travel also tend to keep visitors active more time. Surprisingly, Education websites are on the other side of the scale with one of the lowest ranges of activity. Percentage of Active Time by Industry 5 4 3 2 1 % Active Time Web Analytics by Country (time in sec) Country Time on Page Active Time Active Time (%) Scroll Reach Soft Medium Hard Belgium 201.0 35.0 17.4% 58.9% 11.5% 2.1% 1.7% 15.3% Brazil 140.6 41.3 29.4% 59.9% 16.3% 3.1% 2.2% 21.6% Canada 259.5 36.4 14. 50.1% 15.5% 2.8% 2.8% 21.1% Total Czech Republic 182.7 19.1 10.5% 40.8% 16.4% 8.8% 11.2% 36.4% Denmark 234.3 17.6 7.5% 61.9% 8. 2.7% 3.5% 14.1% Finland 107.2 18.8 17.5% 47.6% 4.6% 1.7% 0.9% 7.2% France 180.2 17.4 9.7% 62.8% 10.7% 2. 2.2% 14.9% Germany 168.1 27.1 16.1% 52.3% 18.3% 3.6% 2.3% 24.2% Ireland 305.5 23.2 7.6% 62.9% 12.5% 4.6% 3.8% 20.9% Italy 141.9 26.3 18.5% 57.3% 20.9% 8. 9.7% 38.5% Japan 243.1 26.9 11.1% 45.3% 25.9% 7.7% 6.6% 40.1% Netherlands 379.6 25.1 6.6% 43.3% 9.6% 2.9% 3.5% 16. New Zealand 292.1 40.9 14. 54.7% 28.4% 7.3% 4.8% 40.5% Norway 173.8 17.2 9.9% 53.7% 6.4% 2.7% 1.7% 10.8% Poland 303.7 104.4 34.4% 55.7% 45.5% 5.2% 4. 54.7% Spain 161.2 19.2 11.9% 47.9% 17.5% 8.5% 8.9% 35. Sweden 349.1 32.3 9.3% 60. 10.7% 3.3% 5.7% 19.8% United Kingdom 226.0 26.5 11.7% 56.5% 13. 4.1% 4.5% 21.6% United States 371.5 22.0 5.9% 47.1% 18.4% 15.7% 6.1% 40.2% Other 310.9 29.2 9.4% 51.4% 21.3% 5.5% 4.9% 31.7% 8
In distribution by countries, the Nordics and Europeans in general tend to have lower bounce rate, whereas the United States, New Zealand, Japan and Poland have the highest. Rate by Country 6 5 4 3 2 1 Total Surprisingly, while Poles bounce more, they are more active when browsing. The United States and some Europeans countries are the least active. Percentage of Active Time by Country 4 3 2 1 % Active Time Make sure to follow us on Twitter (@ClickTale) to get up to the news on what s been going on, and give us a Like on Facebook as well, http/www.facebook.com/clicktale. 9
Next Steps Questions? Tell us what you need @ Like what you read? Visit our content library Want to get started? Demo tailored to your site s needs Contact Us Learn More Request a Demo About ClickTale ClickTale is the leader in Customer-Experience Analytics, the next advance in web analytics, optimizing usability and maximizing conversion rates of any website. Its patented Customer Experience Visualization technology enables companies to see their customers true-to-life online experience at all levels of detail, from aggregated views to playable videos of users browsing sessions. Unlike traditional analytics platforms that assess page-to-page navigation, ClickTale reveals the customer experience inside the page. An enterprise-class SaaS solution, ClickTale Core and ClickTale Touch are fast to deploy and provide immediate ROI. Serving over 80,000 customers worldwide including many Fortune 500 companies, ClickTale is the fastest growing company in its space. For more information, visit www.clicktale.com. US 1-800-807-2117 UK 0800-048-8871 2013 2013 by ClickTale. All rights reserved. All ClickTale products and services mentioned herein, as well as their respective logos, are trademarked or registered trademarks of ClickTale. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials and the data contained are provided by ClickTale and its customers and partners for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and ClickTale shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials, the data or the information, that have been provided by its partners and/or clients for public promotional purposes. 10