Impact of direct traffic effect on online sales

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to analyze the impact of newly created brand awareness on customer’s buying behavior in online environment. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed more than 280,000 online customer journeys from four e-commerce stores based in Slovakia. Within the results of the interaction analysis of individual customer journeys, the authors determined three criteria based on the level of theoretical brand awareness. The purpose was to determine their occurrence in real-world data. Findings It was found that each of the specified criteria accounts for the significant share of the company’s revenues. Based on these criteria and the level of their occurrence, the authors introduced the term direct traffic effect. Research limitations/implications Because of the available Web analytics tools, the data might be imprecise because of data collection issues. There is also ambiguity in the interpretation of the customer journey. Practical implications The company can build awareness among prospective customers by offering them a positive customer experience during the first interactions online. Data proved that customer will not only repeatedly visit the website from the direct traffic source but also his customer journey will end with the purchase of the company’s products. Originality/value This paper fulfills the need for further research on the impact of multi-channel marketing on brand awareness and consumer behavior, respectively.