__/ [ Logician ] on Wednesday 08 March 2006 19:18 \__
>
> T.J. wrote:
>> "Logician" <sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:1141842820.379550.42300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >
>> > T.J. wrote:
>> >> "Logician" <sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> >> news:1141841502.659875.71790@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >> >
>> >> > Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>> >> >> __/ [ Logician ] on Wednesday 08 March 2006 17:25 \__
>> >> >>
>> >> >> > I sell bathrooms, and one of my competitors is apparently selling
>> >> >> > a lot
>> >> >> > via taps4less.com, by a lot I mean a large amount (think what an
>> >> >> > average guy earns per year, multiply by a few times, and that's
>> >> >> > the monthly income).
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Is there any way to see how the site is getting so much business?
>> >> >> > ie to
>> >> >> > check out the sources of leads?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Ideally, you would get access to that foreign server and grab the
>> >> >> logs.
>> >> >> That
>> >> >> would be the only way for the full story to be revealed. Of course
>> >> >> it is
>> >> >> rarely possible and illegal too (I am being cynical here).
>> >> >>
>> >> >> In practice, what you could probably do is derive estimates from
>> >> >> channels
>> >> >> of
>> >> >> traffic by looking at the competitor's placement for various search
>> >> >> terms
>> >> >> and making a gross comparison based on the number of referrlas that
>> >> >> you
>> >> >> get
>> >> >> for the same query. If for some given search phrase you get a
>> >> >> certain number
>> >> >> of referrals and your poisition is X, then depending on the position
>> >> >> Y of
>> >> >> the competitor, you could possibly estimate how many people
>> >> >> percolate through that SERP to 'that other' site. There are more
>> >> >> factor to consider
>> >> >> like page title, summary, etc. Other than that you could identify
>> >> >> backlinks
>> >> >> and estimate how much traffic should be expected.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Lastly, remember that people over-inflate figures, so take whatever
>> >> >> you
>> >> >> hear
>> >> >> with a grain of salt.
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> > The figures are accurate - they are very reliable. I am talking about
>> >> > money figures not clicks or visitors.
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> But do you know the outgoings?
>> >
>> > I know they use shopping.com which is 20p/click, and Google adwords
>> >
>> >> It's like gamblers, they always like to talk about
>> >> the wins, but you rarely here about the losses.
>> >
>> > Yes, but this information is really real. I checked out the site and
>> > there is a lot of clever advertising, eg
>> >
>> > - discounts are given for RRP and then VAT is added for the sale, but
>> > RRP already has the VAT included. So the saving is not real (out by
>> > VAT).
>> > - also the restocking charges stock goods going back easily.
>> > Re-stocking was illegal under DSR but I am not a lawyer. the law used
>> > to say all returns are exempt from re-stocking charges for 7 days.
>> >
>> > But I will try and find out what they are doing to get so much income.
>> >
>>
>> Yes, it is a nicely set out site for selling stuff,
>> Optimising isn't everything.
>> If they have access to the right products, at the
>> right price, have a good shopping cart, have good sales
>> staff and someone clever at doing the ads that is exactly
>> the sort of thing AdWords is perfect for.
>> It's all about ROI.
>> They may be spending £100k a month on Adwords and
>> Overture but if that brings back £120 k a month then good
>> luck to them.
>
> How did you get £100k? That's sounds very high.
>
>>
>> Regarding the DSR:
>> They could argue that they sell predominantly Business to
>> Business, but if the crunch came and if a consumer stood
>> their ground, they wouldn't have to pay a re-stocking fee,
>> but as the company already have the money, would many
>> consumers go to the trouble of taking them to court?
> The site is retail not business to business.
>
>>
>> If you think the ads are blatantly misleading concerning the
>> RRP, you could try reporting them trading standards, but
>> I doubt it will have much effect.
> They just fake the savings.
Logician, the time you spend worrying about the competition could better be
spent improving your site. The same applies to statistics vanity and
excessive analysis. It can be distracting and discouraging, which is
unhelpful and counter-productive.
Best wishes,
Roy
PS - TJ: Liked the casino analogy.
--
Roy S. Schestowitz, Ph.D. Candidate (Medical Biophysics)
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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