What do you know about your future customers?

Did you know that over a quarter of your site visitors are probably 1st time visitors? Did you know that 1st time visitors are less successful than all other visitors to your site? Understanding who your 1st time visitors are, why they came to the site, and how successful they were during that first visit is critical in providing both a satisfying customer experience and helping drive the future landscape of the site. Here are a couple of examples. When analyzing the results of almost 9,000 visitor sessions from one of our online retail customers, we found that 25% were 1st time visitors to the site. Furthermore, 1st time visitors had a lower success rate (41%) than all other visitors to the site (51%).

In looking at their purchase history 84% of 1st time visitors indicated that they had made a purchase in the customer’s store. This clearly identifies these visitors not only as current in-store customers but also a key segment in the future of your online customer base. We also learned that 86% of the 1st time visitors indicated they were the primary shopper for their household.

Perhaps most surprising was that the core demographics of the first time visitor were predominantly female 25-45 year olds while the frequent site customers were males 35-54. The site was catering to the frequent customer but not paying enough attention to the 1st time visitors and their needs. These are all key metrics that need to be taken into consideration to ensure the growth of the site. Our advice: Continue to understand your 1st time visitor population, including their basic needs into future designs and modifications to your site. They are your future customers!