``Quantifying the Impact of Community'' Study Shows Correlation Between eCommunity Solutions and Increased Return On Investment.Business Editors SANTA MONICA Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 2000 Independent Study of Media Metrix Data Reveals eCommunity Users Generate Up to 64% of eTailing Sales PeopleLink Inc. (www.peoplelink.com), the leading business solutions provider (BSP BSP Bromsulphalein, a dye used in the study of liver function. See also sulfobromophthalein clearance test. ) of eCommunity infrastructure solutions, today reveals the results of an independent study of Media Metrix data, which analyzed the economic impact of eCommunity services on today's eBusiness. The findings show that eTailing and B2C (Business to Consumer) Refers to a business communicating with or selling to an individual rather than a company. See B2B. content sites that offer eCommunity features -- such as independent user reviews, message boards and chat rooms -- increase purchase rates, visit frequency, customer retention and pageviews. The study, "Quantifying the Impact of Community," suggests that eCommunity solutions can be an effective way for eBusinesses to increase return on investment (ROI (Return On Investment) The monetary benefits derived from having spent money on developing or revising a system. In the IT world, there are more ways to compute ROI than Carter has liver pills (and for those of you who never heard of that expression, it means a lot). ). The study showed that community users generate up to 64% of the sales on best practice eTailing sites and are up to two times more likely to make a purchase online than non-community users. It also revealed for this segment that eCommunity can increase visitor frequency by up to nine times and retention by up to two times. For media/news content sites, community users generate up to four times more pageviews. Those community users aren't just going to the community pages. In fact, the research found that the community users go to more than two times the amount of non-community pages than the non-community users visit, which helps those content sites sell more advertising. And, in the sales and support segment, evidence suggests that eCommunity features, primarily message boards, can lower customer support costs by as much as 25 percent. "This study shows how eCommunity solutions can help companies increase online purchasing, visitor frequency and retention," said Steve Glenn, founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of PeopleLink. "As an eCommunity provider, we understand how these solutions can help eBusinesses, but now we can actually quantify those results and help our clients to realize them." The study's analysis and subsequent report are based on several information sources, including analysis conducted by a McKinsey & Company team using proprietary Media Metrix click-stream data supplied by more than 50,000 unique users from the first and second quarters of 2000 and other data gathered from existing online communities. The Web sites studied include About.com, Adobe.com, Amazon.com, Buy.com, Ciscosystems.com, CNN.com, eBay.com, ESPN.com, Etrade.com, iVillage.com, P&G.com, Snap.com, Sportsline.com, Thirdage.com, Time.com and Women.com and the tools studied include product reviews, message boards, chat rooms and instant messaging Exchanging text messages in real time between two or more people logged into a particular instant messaging (IM) service. Instant messaging is more interactive than e-mail because messages are sent immediately, whereas e-mail messages can be queued up in a mail server for seconds or . During the study, the investigating team also gathered qualitative and quantitative data from a variety of other sources, including publicly available reports and interviews with industry experts and managers at eBusinesses that employ eCommunity services. The study analyzed the economic impact of effectively implemented eCommunity services, results vary depending on implementation. For a copy of the summary briefing of the study titled "Quantifying the Impact of Community," send an e-mail message with name and address to communityROI@peoplelink.com. About PeopleLink PeopleLink is the leading business solutions provider (BSP) of eCommunity infrastructure solutions designed to enhance traditional CRM (Customer Relationship Management) An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and postsales activities in an organization. initiatives. PeopleLink provides a comprehensive set of eCommunity applications and professional services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. that enable businesses to maximize revenue opportunities, build their brand, solidify customer and partner relationships and provide superior customer service. PeopleLink's clients include GE Medical Systems, MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. , Red Herring Red Herring A preliminary registration statement that must be filed with the SEC describing a new issue of stock (IPO) and the prospects of the issuing company. Notes: , VH1.com, Intranets.com, Oncology.com, NICK.com, Times Mirror's GOLFonline.com, Vacation.com's AgentNet and more. The Santa Monica-based company is funded by AT&T Ventures; The BRM BRM biologic response modifier. BRM Biological response modifier, see there Group; GE Equity; Goldman Sachs Group; HarbourVest Partners LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control ; Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc.; and idealab!. Although the participants were able to show correlation between community and improved performance, it would be inaccurate and misleading to state that the participants proved a causal relationship between community usage and any of the metrics used. Causation could be inferred from this data, but the correlation found could also be the result of other factors, such as selection bias. |
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