There’s Money in Browsers, Screen Resolutions, and Operating Systems… If You Bother to Look.
In the world of consumer E-Commerce, should marketers really care what browser or screen resolution customers are using? Isn’t the web about being open to all comers regardless of operating system?
I realize it’s hard not to go glassy-eyed when designers and web developers start spouting phrases like “aspect ratio” and “backwards compatibility,” but listen up, marketing folks! Browser and screen resolutions matter because there’s money to be made.
“What’s that Browser Capabilities menu?”
Every web analytics package has that seldom viewed report called “browser capabilities” (or something similar). In that section, you will find such thrilling choices as:
- Browsers
- Operating Systems
- Screen Resolutions
- … More things you don’t want to know.
But drop on in there and ask yourself these questions:
- Who converts better? Mac or PC users? Vista, XP, or OSX?
- What is the average order size of visitors who use 800×600 vs. 1280×1024?
- Do Firefox users buy more than IE6 users? What about IE7?
That’s Nice. Why Do I Care?
When I looked at recent stats for one site, I was surprised to find out that Mac users were the most valuable customers. In fact, the lift on PC users was over 80%. When I dug a little deeper, I found that XP users, while a very large percentage of the visitor pool, lagged well behind Vista.
What kind of conclusions might we draw from this information?
Affluence is one obvious answer. Vista might mean the visitor has a new computer. It may also mean they’re just early adopters, which again may signal affluence. Apple users tend to have higher incomes as well (at least according to some surveys).
As you may expect, I also found that the higher the screen resolution, the better the buyer. Even more interesting was the insight that widescreen aspect ratios (16:9) had the best rates of all. At the moment, most widescreen monitors are attached to shiny new laptops as opposed to desktops (though this is changing).
Can we infer that laptop users buy more? And if so, why?
The browser question drove similar results… IE7 beat out IE6 by a wide margin (even though visitors were even). Firefox beat them both.
So what do you do with this data?
You dig deeper and you test. These aren’t small scale tests either.
In the case of Vista vs. XP, we’re talking about more than 60% of all visitors to the site. You may find that IE6 has a lower conversion because something is actually broken on the site. If you try out different resolutions, you might find that your site is easier to navigate at higher resolutions.
Geek out aside, I’m talking about large audiences with a clear differences in response. These are segments worth investigating. You may be leaving enormous amounts of money on the table, or perhaps it is just walking out the door.
Rally with your designers and developers, test and QA. Champion their ideas, and you just might find that next campaign hidden amid the most boring data in your analytics package.
Oh, and lest you think I’m biased on the side of big, shiny Macs, stayed turned for the next installment on browsers and screen resolutions - Why Bigger Isn’t Always Better, Long Live the CRT.
