For corporate buyers known as the ‘fleet market’ where a specialist manager coor-
are that competitor benchmarking is not a one-off activity while developing a strategy, but needs to be continuous.
Benchmarking of competitors’ online services and strategy is a key part of planning activ- ity and should also occur on an ongoing basis in order to respond to new marketing
approaches such as price or promotions. According to Chaffey et al. 2009, competitor benchmarking has different perspectives which serve different purposes:
1
Review of internal capabilities: such as resourcing, structure and processes vs external customer facing features of the sites.
2
From core proposition through branding to online value proposition OVP. The core propo- sition will be based on the range of products offered, price and promotion. The OVP
describes the type of web services offered which add to a brand’s value.
Deise et al. 2000 suggested an ‘equation’ that can be used to appraise competitors from their customers’ viewpoint:
Product quality × Service quality Customer value brand perception = –––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Price × Fulfilment time
3
Different aspects of the customer lifecycle: customer acquisition, conversion to retention. Competitor capabilities should be benchmarked for all the digital marketing activities of
each competitor as shown in Figure 8.1. These should be assessed from the viewpoint of different customer segments or personas, possibly through usability sessions. Performance
in search engines using the tools mentioned in Chapter 2 should be reviewed as a key aspect of customer acquisition and brand strength. In addition to usability, customer
views should be sought on different aspects of the marketing mix such as pricing and promotions mentioned later in the chapter.
4
Qualitative to quantitative: from qualitative assessments by customers through surveys and focus groups through to quantitative analysis by independent auditors of data across
customer acquisition e.g. number of site visitors or reach within market, cost of acquisition, number of customers, sales volumes and revenues and market share; conversion average
conversion rates and retention such as repeat conversion and number of active customers.
5
In-sector and out-of-sector: benchmarking against similar sites within sector and reviewing out of sector to sectors which tend to be more advanced, e.g. online publishers, social
networks and brand sites. Benchmarking services are available for this type of comparison from analysts such as Bowen Craggs Co
www.bowencraggs.com
. An example of one of their benchmark reports is shown in Figure 8.8. You can see that this is based on the
expert evaluation of the suitability of the site for different audiences as well as measures under the overall construction which includes usability and accessibility, message
which covers key brand messages and suitability for international audiences and contact which shows integration between different audiences. The methodology states: ‘it is not
a “tick box”: every metric is judged by its existence, its quality and its utility to the client, rather than “Is it there or is it not?’’’
6
Financial to non-financial measures. Through reviewing competitive intelligence sources such as company reports or tax submissions additional information may be available on
turnover and profit generated by digital channels. But other forward-looking aspects of the company’s capability which are incorporated on the balanced scorecard measurement
framework see Chapter 4 should also be considered, including resourcing, innovation and learning.
Deise et al. 2000 also suggest an ‘equation’ that can be used to suggest the overall level of competition when benchmarking:
Agility × Reach Competitive capability = –––––––––––––
Time-to-market
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Part 2 Strategy and applications