Multivariate Testing Experiences at Glasses Direct

The guys at maxymiser have put out a testimonial from David Carruthers at Glasses Direct on his experience of using multivariate testing with them. This one is interesting as it’s a client who has had experience with a competitor. The posting doesn’t say who the other supplier was but it does say paid-for so we can deduce it wasn’t Google Website Optimizer.

Glasses Direct Multivariate testing image

Unlike many case studies, they’ve posted this on their blog so you don’t need to give your email address to get hold of it – take a look at the testimonial here.

In other news, SiteSpect continue their expansion in europe with their Netherlands office starting to make an impact. Omniture appear to have removed many of their multivariate testing case studies but there is still one from Readers Digest (a brand that went bust in the UK last month).

Multivariate testing is moving forward apace. some content will follow on segment targeting allowing markters to target visitors with different content depending upon where they have come from. If multivariate testing is new to you, hit that link and get the maxymiser explanation, one of the more scientific explanations in our experience, lacking the marketing fluff of the others.

Web Personalization – Good or Bad?

Since my last posting, a few people dropped me a note to suggest that I sould use US rather then European spelling, without wanting to give away my location, let’s settle on US spelling for now. From here on in, it’s web personalization. Other feedback from the article concerned the worries of users. Rest assured, all the vendors we’re covering consider web personalization to be something that makes the content of brand sites more relevant to the user.

We’re not talking Phorm style whole of web targeting based on ISP spying or even Criteo web personalization of general sites based on products browsed in an ecommerce website. We’re talking about a brand taking the behavioral data they hold about a user and using it to present more relevant and timely personalized offers on future visits.

Omniture does this a for a number of brands already, they acquired a product in about 2006 called Touch Clarity which is now branded Test & Target One to One. The idea is that it takes visitor level data and uses it to achieve a level of website personalization. Some find it’s quite a black box approach but black boxes have their advantages, they can be left to run and their algorithms will optimize automatically overnight or whilst you enjoy the weekend!

Other firms doing it include x+1 and also a european firm recently expanded into the USA called Maxymiser. It sounds a little like a tacky name (or snake oil sales person esque) but their web personalization is one of the few to extenstively document how it takes even offline data and uses that to make personal recommendations for products and content or offers.

We”ll take a look and review some of the offers shortly. At present all vendors are being quite tight lipped on actual demos, understandably so because they’re in the process of protecting their innovations with patents we assume.

M.V.T.