Thanks to an innovative new ecommerce solution, merchants are opening their eyes to what is really going on inside their online stores in the most visual way, yet.
INSIDE, a new customer management solution, gives merchants an entirely new perspective of their digital stores via a 3D model of their live website. Merchants are able to see moving customer avatars complete with detailed visitor insights (see images A and B). Each avatar shown represents a customer that is currently shopping on the website, and the store layout symbolizes specific website areas. For example, aisles signify the sections of a site where customers view products, while the desk region (marked with an "i") represents a website's information areas, such as the "About" page. This unique layout makes it easy for merchants to find out what site visitors are doing at any given time.
Unlike most shopping cart analytics solutions, which provide users with a collection of numbers and charts, INSIDE focuses exclusively on real-time metrics. Examples include who is shopping, what they are looking at and their browsing time. By leveraging these insights in combination with INSIDE's customer interaction tools (e.g. live chat), merchants can proactively monitor customer actions and drive them toward checkout.
"Imagine seeing a customer who has searched for the same product three times during a visit to your online store," said INSIDE North America CEO Hadar Paz. "With INSIDE, you will get a real-time alert about this situation, and will be able to offer assistance to help the customer find the product - just like you would do in a brick-and-mortar store.
"In addition to assistance, you can also provide realtime incentives. For example, INSIDE will alert you that a specific customer has an item in their shopping basket and is not checking out in the expected amount of time. You can approach the customer and offer a gift with purchase, conditional on them checking out in the next 15 minutes."
Aside from alerts, merchants can use their mouse to hover over any avatar to gain real-time information about a specific consumer, such as what items are in his or her cart. The color of each avatar also represents a specific type of site visitor. For instance, blue signifies a first-time visitor, yellow represents a returning visitor, green symbol a logged-in site member and red avatars are considered shoppers who are likely to make a purchase. And although a screen full of moving avatars may seem overwhelming, merchants can target certain customers by using the platform's filters to only view a specific consumer type, such as mobile shoppers, international visitors or VIP customers.
For companies looking to adopt INSIDE's capabilities, the company offers four different monthly service plans ranging from $49 to $299. All plans feature 16 different store layouts so that merchants can have an industry-specific storefront to interact with (see image C). Every plan also comes with Facebook and Twitter integrations, which enable merchants to receive platform-specific, push notifications when customers interact with a business's social media pages. The more robust plans come with longer data retention metrics and include a world map that shows where their international traffic is coming from (see image D).
Regardless of plan, this visually driven technology provides a tangible way to view site analytics and is equipped with innovative tools to improve a company's site retention, conversion rate and more. Additionally, it helps online merchants interact with their digital customers in a similar way they would with in-store clientele. In turn, offering a more personalized, handson experience.
