On Tuesday I wrote a column about e-tailers and how the market no longer
views increased traffic as a sure sign of a Web site’s success. (E-tailers Get
Post-Holiday Blues)
A new study from Forrester Research suggests that there is growing
demand for detailed information about the behavior of consumers on a Web
site, rather than raw traffic numbers.
That demand comes primarily from advertisers who want more proof they’re
getting an acceptable return on their investments in online marketing
campaigns.
Which is exactly what “e-customer intelligence” vendor net.Genesis
promises it can deliver. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company recently
filed for a public offering designed to raise $70 million under the
Nasdaq ticker symbol NTGX. Lead underwriter is Hambrecht & Quist.
Net.Genesis sells software that allows companies to collect data about
customers’ online behavior and provides reporting functions for
measuring and analyzing this information.
The problem is the company hasn’t sold much of it. Though it began
generating revenue in February 1996 and now claims more than 200
customers — including Bell Atlantic, CBS, Charles Schwab and The Gap —
net.Genesis had only $1.6 million in sales in 1998.
Revenue growth has picked up this year, though, with net.Genesis
reporting $3.9 million in sales through the first three quarters, of
which about 40 percent comes from its growing services business.
Still, you would expect more from a company that has been selling
product for almost four years now. Especially when you consider the
revenue of rivals such as WebTrends (WEBT),
which has gone from $1.9 million in revenue in ’96 to $12.3 million
through Q3 ’98, and Accrue Software (ACRU),
which has $5.5 million in the last two quarters alone (and didn’t ship
its first product until January ’97, almost a year after net.Genesis).
In addition to battling other stand-alone Web site analysis software
vendors, net.Genesis must contend with products such as Microsoft’s Site
Server, which includes statistical breakouts.
Compounding net.Genesis’ challenge are mounting losses. The company has
an accumulated deficit of $23.8 million through Sept. 30, of which $9.6
million was incurred through the first nine months of this year.
Though it was one of the first companies to market with Web site
analysis tools, net.Genesis now finds itself playing catch-up as losses
widen. That’s a tough combination to bet on.
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