OpinionLab announced enhanced integration of its customer-feedback offering with web analytics: voice-of-customer (VOC) tools can now integrate data from web analytics and multivariate and A/B testing platforms such as Omniture Test&Target, giving site managers the ability to layer page-specific customer feedback over analytics test results. By revealing the reasons that govern user actions, this data helps companies identify issues more efficiently and leverage key insights across the entire website or organization, exponentially increasing the ROI of every test performed.

OpinionLab’s patented, opt-in comment card is unique in its inherent compatibility with A/B and multivariate testing, and works both with or without existing testing platforms. The non-intrusive, always available feedback link collects streaming VOC data without interfering with or distracting from users’ authentic experience with pages under review.

Steps to successful integration:

Screenshots of new integrations below:

You know by now the importance of collecting user feedback to improve your site. You may have shopped around, or even implemented a feedback tool. If you have, you know there are many options that all accomplish different goals. You must first start with your own goals for acquiring and acting on customer feedback. What feedback will you receive? What will you do with the feedback? Once you establish your feedback goals, you can determine how to integrate customer feedback into Web analytics.

Using surveys and polls to listen to your customers provides a high-level understanding of what is happening on your Web site, but they are usually based on pre-set questions with a statistical review of answers. The fact that the data is ultimately reviewed from a statistical analysis view also might cause the solution to be relevant mainly to large Web sites with a lot of traffic. This means that not all lines of businesses can benefit equally from these tools. You can use surveys and polls to ask ‘site-level’ questions such as: “Where did you hear about our site,” “What are you looking for,” “How old are you,” etc. The answers to these questions can help you to know your users better, but they will not necessarily help you find problems on your Web site.

Surveys provide detailed information about users, Web analytics provide the who, what, when and where, but what provides the why? Answering the critical question of ”why?” can help Web site owners and companies improve revenue, conversions, site usage and user experience. Online feedback forms that are integrated with Web analytics provide a way to gain instant feedback to the site that is measurable based on your own business metrics. Integrating customer data into your Web analytics, which traditional surveys are unable to do, is the best way to bring the customer’s voice into your analytics process.

There are feedback forms available that can be integrated into any page or process of your site and integrated into Web analytics, CRM platforms and other business applications to provide a more complete view of user behavior. When users come across an issue, they simply click on the feedback icon. Customers then rate their overall impression of your site from a selection of emoticons, select their issue category from a graphical menu and provide a brief synopsis, giving you insight into their behavior in that instance.

Providing a process-level feedback form that is customized and tailored to your brand further encourages users to engage with you at the feedback level. Process-level feedback allows you to piece processes on your site together to give the widest possible picture, i.e. a holistic view of your entire website. This increases the likelihood of users opting in and they can submit only the input relative to their specific Web site experience within seconds. It also removes your onerous to prepare all encompassing questions.

In seeking feedback, it’s not only important for you to get a picture of how your site is performing (through Web analytics), but why customers behave in a given way (through surveys and feedback analytics). If you have the what, you are still missing half of the picture.

Full Reports:

Satisfaction held steady from last week, meaning shoppers are similarly satisfied with the online shopping experience this week when compared to Cyber Monday. What’s troubling is that satisfaction is still down 3% since last year, and even last year (amidst the recession), it wasn’t anything to write home about. Comscore is reporting sales increases of 4% year-over-year, and we’ve been wondering how sales can be up at all (even a disappointing 4%) when satisfaction is down. After all, satisfaction as measured by the ACSI is a proven predictor of sales, financial success, and even stock prices.

Why?

When measured using the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), satisfaction has been proven to predict future sales and even stock prices. Using the ACSI methodology, our annual holiday benchmark of more than 350,000 shoppers to more than 110 retail websites during the week of Thanksgiving and on Cyber Monday shows some cause for concern. On Cyber Monday, shopper satisfaction was at its lowest levels in four years. Our benchmarks for likelihood to buy online and offline were at their lowest levels in four years.

There’s a bright spot though, and it could be the bright spot that keeps this holiday season merry for retailers. Although overall shopper satisfaction was down, BUYER satisfaction was actually up. In fact, buyer satisfaction was on Cyber Monday was at its highest levels in the four years that ForeSee Results has measured it, meaning that those who actually purchased online on Cyber Monday were happier than they’ve ever been.

Our prediction is that the websites with the highest online customer satisfaction will see the biggest sales increases and could carry the industry. What’s your prediction?