A web site engagement measurement for digital marketers

Abstract

Clickstreams and impressions are widely used for the assessment of e-commerce Web site performance. In this chapter we clarify if these digital metrics, generated by customers as they navigate on Web sites, influence their engagement with the site. We also provide digital marketers with a practical measurement for assessing if customers of their e-commerce Web sites have become engaged with this interactive technology. In the digital industry, marketers typically measure Web site engagement using clickstream data downloaded from Internet servers. However, Web based companies uncritically rely on these metrics and are in general still misled in terms of how to actually measure the performance of their own Web sites. Given the widespread use of clickstreams and impressions for the assessment of e-commerce Web site performance, the objective of this research is to clarify if these metrics generated by Web site customers as they navigate influence their engagement with the site. Our findings reveal that clickstream data obtained from visitors on an e-commerce Web sites do not influence engagement. This allows us to question the validity of some of Web metrics widely used by digital marketers in the Internet industry. Such outcome also enables practitioners to reduce expenditure through trial-and-error testing of their technologies, hence improving their organizational performance. Results of this study are applicable to Web commerce in general. © Linda D. Hollebeek and David E. Sprott 2019. All rights reserved.