Specialized Bicycles Improves Online Brand Experience with Webtrends 7 On Demand
Webtrends Complete, Accurate Picture of Visitor Activity Improves Online Customer Communications during Tour de France
PORTLAND, Ore. - July 21, 2005 -Webtrends Inc., the global web analytics market leader, today announced that Specialized Bicycles has selected Webtrends® 7
On Demand to improve its branding efforts and online communications with web site visitors and customers. With the Tour de France underway, Specialized Bicycles has ramped up its web site to handle its historically high July traffic volumes, which typically jump 50% higher than average. Additionally, visitors and customers from around the world can visit
www.specialized.com to access exclusive reports and photos from the daily stages of the Tour de France, as well as learn more about Specialized Bicycles.
While most of Specialized's business is conducted through independent bicycle dealers, its global web site is its number one vehicle of communication with its customers. Webtrends' role in measuring and reporting on visitor and customer success with Specialized.com is critical to the success of the company's overall branding efforts as well as maintaining high customer satisfaction and retention.
"Before Webtrends, we were not able to see the full picture of our online business. In fact, we previously used a variety of tools that tabulated data in different ways so we weren't getting an accurate apples-to-apples comparison of marketing ROI and conversion" said Sean McLaughlin, interactive director at Specialized Bicycles. "We recently made the switch to Webtrends because it offered the reliability, accuracy and flexibility we needed to slice-and-dice our critical metrics and meet all of our reporting needs."
Marketers at Specialized are leveraging Webtrends to optimize the effectiveness of its site content in answering key questions about their prospects and customers such as, "Does compelling content succeed in driving visitors to the dealer locator?", "Do they tend to prefer one section of the site vs. another?" and "How do customers in one region react to the content vs. another?" Answering these questions empowers marketers to determine the immediate changes that need to be made-during events like the Tour de France as well as on an ongoing basis-to improve its customers' online experience and their relationship with the company.
While Specialized bicycles are sold exclusively by dealers, the company does sell bicycle equipment online and uses Webtrends to make important decisions regarding its merchandising strategies, such as parts and equipment that may need to be sold at dealers in certain regions. In addition, Specialized has a deep, online knowledge base of frequently asked questions, containing over 90 percent of the answers to customers' questions. This self-help service is continually improving and Webtrends is used to measure its success.
"The top goals for the Specialized web site are to improve its customers' brand experience and deliver those customers to Specialized Dealers, and the company is intelligently utilizing web analytics to further those initiatives," said Greg Drew, CEO and president of Webtrends, Inc. "We designed Webtrends 7 to be the easiest to use, most flexible web analytics solution on the market, and Specialized offers a great example of the breadth of value that Webtrends provides to today's marketer."
About Specialized
Specialized Bicycles, founded in Morgan Hill, CA, in 1974, designed and manufactured the first production mountain bike, which now resides in the Smithsonian Institute. Specialized is a company of devout cyclists obsessed with creating cutting edge, functional and technically advanced products that provide a performance benefit for the cycling enthusiast. Specialized products are available exclusively through Specialized dealers, or on the Web at www.specialized.com.
About Webtrends
Thousands of web-smart organizations worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune and Global 500, rely on Webtrends to improve their web site conversions and optimize their marketing performance for maximum return on investment. As the worldwide market leader for web analytics, Webtrends has become the trusted standard not only for award-winning technology, but also for a full range of consulting services and unmatched industry expertise. By delivering accurate and actionable metrics through both on-demand and software options, Webtrends ensures that its customers are positioned for both immediate and long-term success with a solution that can adapt to ever-changing business and technical requirements. For more information, visit www.Webtrends.com.
Webtrends and Webtrends On Demand are trademarks or registered trademarks of Webtrends Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
