Keynote Systems Expands WebEffective

Keynote Systems expanded its offerings for multinational organizations today when it released the latest version of its online market research platform, WebEffective 4.0, which was designed to be more user-friendly to the global market. The application allows users to measure, test, and improve online user experiences by combining studies and Web analytics into one solution to provide companies with insight into consumer behavior. It then solicits feedback to users through panels of customers. "Multinational companies have spent tens of millions of dollars building their Web sites and related e-business infrastructure and marketing to create brand recognition and loyalty," says Carol Carpenter, senior director of product management at Keynote. "Unless these companies understand what drives customers to their Web sites and what keeps them there, there is no assurance that these efforts are being directed where they will have the most impact." New enhancements include multilingual analysis of Web sites, including Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. Enhancements also were made to better capture and understand consumer behaviors and attitudes online, including self-service testing, scripting logic, and new data collection options. Customers now can create scripts in their native languages and have participants receive surveys in those languages. These enhancements were driven by strong customer demand across the globe, Carpenter says. "We saw tremendous demand for these services. As companies expand their reach to global markets they require the need to capture customer behavioral and attitudinal behavior in their native languages." A recent report from Forrester Research report, "Trends 2006: Online Retail," underscores the importance of online businesses going global. "Online retailers expect international sales to fuel their next stage of growth. But international expansion requires tremendous brand, marketing, and technology investment, making this endeavor not for the faint of heart," Sucharita Mulpuru, senior analyst at Forrester, writes in the report. "Those retailers that do decide to expand need to centralize site management, engage in usability testing in foreign market, and determine the most cost-effective logistics strategy." Related articles: Tracking Customer Behavior Lunchtime Is Online Shopping's Prime Time