Measuring success

Reviewer: S. Srinivasan

The authors define e-business intelligence as the analysis and use of information collected about visitors to a Web site. In this paper, they describe several useful metrics and feedback techniques for measuring the success of a Web site. In particular, they discuss the evolution of “personalized interactive services for e-business.” The “intelligence” comes in providing personalized services to the customers. In order to provide personalized services, the business has to collect personal data about the customer. Protecting the privacy of such data is critical to the success of the business. This paper outlines a process for designing a system that does both. Web sites have a variety of goals. Some strive to educate customers, some try to provide useful information, and many try to sell a product or service. The types of metrics used to measure success also differ. In this regard, a practical example would be the impact of click-throughs and look-to-buy metrics on the price of the product or service. A good analysis by the authors of the impact of newer technologies on large-scale data gathering capabilities adds to our understanding of measuring business success. They briefly discuss the importance of personal profiling in making Web sites more useful to visitors. All in all, the paper contains many interesting ideas. It will be of interest to anyone who wants to find out which measures are important in designing and maintaining a Web site for business.