The Impact of Web Analytics Tools on the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises

Authors

Volume: 13 | Issue: 5 | Pages: 11753-11762 | October 2023 | https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.6261

Abstract

In the era of data analytics, the use of web analytics tools is widely spread among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), especially in the e-commerce sector, to analyze web usage data and measure website performance due to the several features it provides. Most web analytics studies were conducted based on marketing rather than a managerial point of view. Therefore, there is a necessity to study the impact from a managerial perspective by exploring the impact on financial and non-financial performance and the decision-making process. This study assessed the impact of web analytics tools on the overall performance of SMEs, targeting Saudi SMEs and considering the lack of web analytics studies in this sector in Saudi Arabia. The sample involved eight Saudi SMEs who participated by answering interview questions, which were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings demonstrated four main themes: the current web analytics tools used by Saudi SMEs, the motivations behind their use, and their impact on SMEs' performance and decision-making. The results showed that these tools positively affect the overall performance of SMEs. Google Analytics (GA) was the tool most used by the sample. Seven motives were discovered that encourage SMEs to use web analytics tools. This study also addressed the common Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used by the participants. Concerning decision-making, it was found that web analytics tools affected and supported SMEs' decisions. Furthermore, this study evaluated the role of Zid, the Saudi e-commerce platform for data analytics and performance measurement.

Keywords:

data analytics, SMEs, web analytics tools, KPIs, google Analytics, e-commerce

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

"Over 750,000 SMEs operating in Saudi Arabia, a 15% increase on 2021," Small & Medium Enterprises General Authority, Monsha’at report, Jun. 2022. [Online]. Available: http://monshaat.gov.sa/en/node/9515.

L. A. Hussein, A. S. Baharudin, S. Kiumarsi, and M. F. Hilmi, "Factors Influencing the Intention to Continue using B2B e-Commerce in Manufacturing SMEs," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 5528–5533, Apr. 2020.

S. Kaabi and R. Jallouli, "Overview of E-commerce Technologies, Data Analysis Capabilities and Marketing Knowledge," in Digital Economy. Emerging Technologies and Business Innovation, Beirut, Lebanon, 2019, pp. 183–193.

M. Bianchini and V. Michalkova, "Data Analytics in SMEs: Trends and Policies," OECD, Paris, France, Jun. 2019.

S. Coleman, R. Göb, G. Manco, A. Pievatolo, X. Tort-Martorell, and M. S. Reis, "How Can SMEs Benefit from Big Data? Challenges and a Path Forward," Quality and Reliability Engineering International, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 2151–2164, 2016.

S. Y. Coleman, "Data-Mining Opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises with Official Statistics in the UK," Journal of Official Statistics, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 849–865, Dec. 2016.

M. Dittert, R. C. Härting, C. Reichstein, and C. Bayer, "A Data Analytics Framework for Business in Small and Medium-Sized Organizations," in Intelligent Decision Technologies 2017, Vilamoura, Portugal, 2018, pp. 169–181.

M. Nasrollahi, J. Ramezani, and M. Sadraei, "The Impact of Big Data Adoption on SMEs’ Performance," Big Data and Cognitive Computing, vol. 5, no. 4, Dec. 2021, Art. no. 68.

W. Boufenneche, M. Hebboul, and O. Benabderrahmane, "Web Analytics Tools for e-Commerce: An Overview and Comparative Analysis," in International Conference on Managing Business Through Web Analytics, 2022, pp. 51–72.

U. P. Jyothi, S. Bonthu, and B. V. Prasanthi, "A Study on Raise of Web Analytics and its Benefits," International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 59–64, Oct. 2017.

C. Truong, H. Phuong, N. Thi, and H. Trang, "Web analytics tools and benefits for entrepreneurs," BSc Thesis, Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Lahti, Finland, 2017.

"7 Must Have Ecommerce Analytics Tools," Ecommerce Platforms, Jan. 08, 2015. https://ecommerce-platforms.com/ecommerce-selling-advice/7-must-ecommerce-analytics-tools.

J. Maintz and F. Zaumseil, "Using Web analytics for content marketing performance measurement," presented at the 5th International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2017.

J. Järvinen and H. Karjaluoto, "The use of Web analytics for digital marketing performance measurement," Industrial Marketing Management, vol. 50, pp. 117–127, Oct. 2015.

B. Plaza, "Google Analytics for measuring website performance," Tourism Management, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 477–481, Jun. 2011.

Z. Hosseini, S. Mohammadi, and H. Safari, "An Assessment of the Impact of Information Technology on Marketing and Advertising," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 2526–2531, Feb. 2018.

N. S. Redkina, "The development tendencies of web analytics tools," Automatic Documentation and Mathematical Linguistics, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 112–116, Jun. 2017.

G. Zheng and S. Peltsverger, "Web Analytics Overview," in Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Third Edition, Hersley, PA, USA: IGI Global, 2015.

J. Burby, A. Brown, and WAA Standards Committee, "Web Analytics Definitions," Web Analytics Association, Washington, DC, USA, Aug. 2017.

R. Sharda, D. Delen, and E. Turban, Business intelligence, analytics, and data science: a managerial perspective, Fourth edition. New York, NY: Pearson, 2018.

H. Singal, S. Kohli, and A. K. Sharma, "Web analytics: State-of-art & literature assessment," in 2014 5th International Conference - Confluence The Next Generation Information Technology Summit (Confluence), Noida, India, Sep. 2014, pp. 24–29.

I. Bekavac and D. Garbin Praničević, "Web analytics tools and web metrics tools: An overview and comparative analysis," Croatian Operational Research Review, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 373–386, Oct. 2015.

A. Kaushik, Web Analytics: An Hour a Day. Indianapolis, IN, USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2007.

L. Kumar, H. Singh, and R. Kaur, "Web analytics and metrics: a survey," in Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Computing, Communications and Informatics, Chennai, India, May 2012, pp. 966–971.

"Website Traffic - Check and Analyze Any Website," Similarweb. https://www.similarweb.com/.

K. Nakatani and T. Chuang, "A web analytics tool selection method: an analytical hierarchy process approach," Internet Research, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 171–186, Jan. 2011.

"W3Techs - extensive and reliable web technology surveys." https://w3techs.com/.

M. M. Savitha and S. M. Illuru, "Google Analytics," International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 4319–4323, Jun. 2022.

D. Heller, "Web analytics: functions, KPIs and reports in SMEs," BSc Thesis, Universität Koblenz, Koblenz, Germany, 2016.

"Page-Analytics Chrome extension - Analytics Help." https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6047802?hl=en#zippy=%2Cin-this-article.

"Hotjar: Website Heatmaps & Behavior Analytics Tools." https://www.hotjar.com/.

M. del M. R. García, J. García-Nieto, and J. F. Aldana-Montes, "An ontology-based data integration approach for web analytics in e-commerce," Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 63, pp. 20–34, Nov. 2016.

A. Ferrini and J. J. Mohr, "Uses, Limitations, and Trends in Web Analytics," in Handbook of Research on Web Log Analysis, Hersley, PA, USA: IGI Global, 2009, pp. 124–142.

M. Nastasiea and C. Mironeasa, "Key Performance Indicators in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises," TEHNOMUS - New Technologies and Products in Machine Manufacturing Technologies, pp. 46–53, 2016.

V. Kumar and G. A. Ogunmola, "Web Analytics for Knowledge Creation: A Systematic Review of Tools, Techniques, and Practices," International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning (IJCBPL), vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–14, Jan. 2020.

"Conversion rate: Definition - Google Ads Help." https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2684489?hl=en&ref_topic=24937.

D. Chaffey, D. Edmundson-Bird, and T. Hemphill, Digital Business and E-commerce Management. London, UK: Pearson UK, 2019.

"Zid App Market," Zid App Market. https://apps.zid.sa.

M. F. Mubarak, F. A. Shaikh, M. Mubarik, K. A. Samo, and S. Mastoi, "The Impact of Digital Transformation on Business Performance: A Study of Pakistani SMEs," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 5056–5061, Dec. 2019.

S. B. Merriam and R. S. Grenier, "Introduction to Qualitative Research," in Qualitative Research in Practice: Examples for Discussion and Analysis, Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2019, pp. 3–18.

"Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Ministry of Commerce," Ministry of Commerce, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 2016. [Online]. Available: https://mc.gov.sa:443/en/mediacenter/News/Pages/13-12-16-03.aspx.

B. Marshall, P. Cardon, A. Poddar, and R. Fontenot, "Does Sample Size Matter in Qualitative Research?: A Review of Qualitative Interviews in is Research," Journal of Computer Information Systems, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 11–22, Sep. 2013.

V. Braun and V. Clarke, "Thematic analysis," in APA handbook of research methods in psychology: Research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, neuropsychological, and biological, 2nd ed., vol. 2, Washington, DC, USA: American Psychological Association, 2023, pp. 65–81.

Downloads

How to Cite

[1]
Almatrafi, A.M. and Alharbi , Z.H. 2023. The Impact of Web Analytics Tools on the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises. Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research. 13, 5 (Oct. 2023), 11753–11762. DOI:https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.6261.

Metrics

Abstract Views: 1459
PDF Downloads: 1198

Metrics Information