Attracting and retaining web visitors Ecommerce Attracting and retaining web visitors

Attractors An attractor is a Web site with the potential to attract and interact with a relatively large number of visitors in a target stakeholder group. Issues for consideration Identification and classification of attractors Use of attractors to support a marketing strategy

Types of attractors The entertainment park The archive The exclusive sponsorship The town Hall The club The gift shop The freeway intersection or portal The customer service center

The Entertainment Park Engage visitors by activities by Participation or challenges Entertainment Games to market products Enhance corporate image Interactive experiences Character of a contest Advantages Gained high traffic potential (with repeat visits) Creation or enforcement of an image of a dynamic, exciting, and friendly corporation.

The Archive Provides an opportunity to discover historical aspects of the company's activities An instant and universal access to interesting information An opportunity to explore the past Advantages Building and reinforcing the corporate image Difficult to replicate by competitors Disadvantages Might have lack of interactivity Static Less likely to attract repeat visits

The Exclusive sponsorship A website can be of utility To attract visitors by sponsoring a public event To provide Internet details of sponsored sporting competitions broadcasts of special events (e.g., concerts, speeches, art exhibitions) Advantages Can have broad traffic potential Can attract many visitors in short periods (e.g., the World Cup). Can enhance the organizational image Timely providing exclusive and valuable information Threats Existence may remain unnoticed to potential audience Limited exposure to audience in short-term events Requires up-to-the-minute results or info for popular events Sports

The Town hall A virtual town hall/public forum on the Web Can attract broad traffic by including a public figure of National importance Renowned specialist This can have a potentially higher level of interactivity, participation and more engaging than sponsorship. Threats Advertisement to potential audience May require parallel bulletin board to notify interested attendees Requires a continual string of drawing card guests.

The club An electronic community on the internet, where visitors have to Register for participation Become a member Attractors/members can interact and participate to Increase company loyalty Enhance customer feedback Improve customer service

The gift shop Gifts and free samples for potential attractors Digitized material such as software (e.g., screensavers and utilities) Photographs, Digital paintings, Research reports, Non-digital offerings (e.g., T-shirt). Gifts can be of an opportunity for dialogue participation (e.g., revenue, review, feedback, demographic data).

The freeway intersections or portals A Website can be of n-dimensional Web freeway intersection Surfers coming and going in all directions such as Google, Yahoo Presents a significant advertising opportunity for visitors Such as search engines, directories, news centers, and electronic malls This could be an entry point for specific customer segment Portals for travelers, businesses Can be varied based on demography (e.g., an interest in fishing) and geography Possibility of gaining a long-term competitive advantage A virtual location on the web

The Customer service center A website can be designed for Serving the existing customer Supporting the after sales phase of service Parcel tracking service by DHL, Software updates and utilities by Adobe), Answers to FAQs An opportunity to sell other products and services. Specials of the week on Apple Web site Todays deal on Amazon

Identify the attractor type ? http://www.tourism.gov.my/ Features The Entertainment Park ? The Archive The Town hall The Gift shop The Exclusive sponsorship The Club The Freeway intersections or portals The Customer service center

Attractiveness factor A factor that affects the traction of visitors to a website A service process matrix of the degree of labor intensity, interaction and customization for identifying services Labor-intensity A high ratio of cost of labor (e.g., law firms). A high ratio of plants and equipment over labor intensity (e.g., trucking firm with trucks, trailers, and terminals) Consumer interaction and customization Services are easier to customize than products Personalized drinks for each coke consumer ?? Personalized dental appliances for each patient??

Attractor grid For Web, labor intensity is replaced by automated service delivery system. Web can turn highly customized services into customized attractors Focus turned into interaction and customization A visitor can only enter search terms in search engine Or the visitor can be diverted for participation (e.g., play an interactive game)

Attractor grid Little interaction Heavy interaction A search engine Heavy interaction A bank with 24/7 service center (e.g., what is the balance of my account?). Little customization Mass entertainment (FIFA) Heavily customized A sports club

Tackling the challenge of attractor domain A Website can be easily imitated by competitors A location or identity is difficult to copy Back-end IT investments supporting the Web frontend customer service can be a valuable resource Difficult-to-imitate Sponsorship ? Long term contract ? Archiving or showcasing the past ? A checklist for retaining attractors Prior back-end IT investments showcasing elegance Special relations (e.g., sponsorship) Special information resources (e.g., an archive) Established brand or image (part of the enterprise's history) Proprietary intellectual/artistic capital (e.g., a Monet painting)

Strategies for attractors Analysis of stake holders Identifying the types and forms of attractors to develop. Concentrating on the most influential stakeholders Focusing the needs of attractors Make the site more attractive to these groups--the influence filter Customized Attractor Decide the degree of customization--the target refractor Kellogg's - to appeal to all young children American Airlines - to attract prospective flyers

Strategies for attractors Broad Attractor Is useful for focusing a number type of stakeholders Or many individuals in one category of stakeholders Can serve content with minimal adjustment to the needs of individual attractors May risks of less attention from mass visitors May be suitable for utilities or mass entertainment. Specialized Attractor More narrow audience Mostly services or utility (solutions to a specific issue) or a service center (service to a specific group) Personalized Attractor Customized for individuals (NetFliX provides visitors the opportunity of Personalized profile and suggestion of movies) May incur higher costs for dependency on customer profile or demography