Web analytics up close and personal

摘要

IN THE BRICK-AND-MORTAR world, the profit-maximizing motive of the merchant and the convenience-maximizing motive of the consumer are out of balance. What results is an optimization process where merchants attempt to satisfy a cross section of consumers, while focusing on their average customers where the greatest volume, and consequently the greatest profit margins, exist. But few consumers have an average consumption pattern. The ideal experience for consumers would be to walk into a store where the racks have only their size and color, the music store stocks only their favorite artists, or the checkout counter at the computer store already has the correct paper and cartridges for their printer.