Ti'' Moyer, picking an Internet portal to nab his daily dose of online news and shopping was a cinch. The two measures of stickiness are the number of minutes visitors stay at a site and the frequency with which they return. Inc. have long held on to members with such goodies as instant messages. That doesn't mean e-tailers can't keep a loyal base of customers with the proper stickum. Rather than pouring money into ads designed to pull people to the site, they'd be better served by spending on content that keeps shoppers there.
Consumers find value in how-to sections, product comparisons, expert sources, and testimonials.
When he had a question about a lamp for the garage of his home in Glendale, Ariz., he simply clicked on an icon labeled ''questions,'' and up popped a live chat screen with a hardware expert. In less than a minute, the expert told him the lamp he had chosen included the dimmer he was looking for. ''I couldn't believe it,'' says Gilmore, a self-described tool guy who visits the site at least twice a week. The Web is full of dating sites, but few offer much depth on their members. Matchmaker profiles are gleaned from a survey of some 60 questions. But the site is careful to mix its giveaways with content.