ONSALE Inc. began using a
new proprietary reporting tool, “thumbprinting,” that enables the company to
analyze the effectiveness of its online advertising buys in terms of customer
acquisition cost and profitability.
“Before we developed thumbprinting, our online advertising decisions were
based on click-through,” said Barry Peters, ONSALE’s director of consumer
marketing. “Thumbprinting is a sophisticated internal marketing tool that
allows us to understand, by advertising source, how visitors convert to
customers and how they perform as customers subsequently. Now, we are better
able to analyze our spending and maximize return on our advertising
investments.”
Thumbprinting allows ONSALE to determine the cost of acquiring new customers
based on the advertising source and lifetime spending habits of these
customers. By analyzing online advertising in terms of the value of new
buyers, not just the volume of new visitors to the site, ONSALE said it can
target high-value customers while working to keep customer acquisition costs
at a minimum.
ONSALE is a real-time retailer specializing in interactive auctions of
merchandise and services, including personal computers, consumer electronics,
housewares, sports and fitness equipment, vacation and travel packages, and
specialty foods.
