E-businesses get relationship guidance

NEWS A leading analyst house has criticised ecommerce merchants for failing to manage customer relationships properly. IDC's latest report says a company conducting business online must realise the sales acquisition process is not distinct from the relationship management process. IDC claims that online merchants pay between $0.97 and $2.67 per visitor for large-volume marketing deals with portals. Juliana Nelson, senior analyst with IDC's Internet and ecommerce strategies research programme, said: "With banner response rates below 1 per cent, visitor conversion rates below 1 per cent and customers being presented with multiple buying opportunities in every online session, it's essential for ecommerce merchants to preserve their relationships with existing customers." IDC stresses the importance of customer relationship management (CRM) technology, which it places in three categories: post-sales follow-up, customer segmentation and evaluation, and stickiness drivers. Nelson added: "Many companies view customer relationship management like a child views eating vegetables - you don't like it, but it's good for you. Customer management is as important as customer acquisition to the sale. Companies that want to increase revenue per transaction and transactions per customer need to integrate support and management to the cost of sales." For more information, email sbeauregard@idc.com