ET WebTrends is trying to convert visitor information into customer relationship information by making it easier for Web sites to capture visitors as customers. Managing visitor data is much more difficult than customer data.
Visitors have a different profile than customers.
Visitors may be uninformed about the site, as opposed to customers, who are used to finding their way around. Consequently, identifying the visitors who become customers is a key piece of information for managers of e-commerce sites. Catering to this group more effectively on the site might edge the conversion rate upward, increasing profitability. In CommerceTrends 3.0, WebTrends has tried to combine clickstream analysis with measures of Web site activity, then report to site managers in near real-time what appears to work and what doesn't. A data-mining engine such as Hyperion's Essbase can look for many related factors in a visitor who becomes a customer, such as which sequence of page views lead to a purchase decision.