From WebProNews
Let’s say you are in charge of marketing the web site. You have a multitude of media choices, but not an unlimited budget.
If possible, you want to only spend time and effort attracting visitors who are going to generate the highest value for the business. What if you had access to a web analytics report that told you, in advance, that one source of visitors generates customers who visit / buy only once, and another source generates customers who visit / buy multiple times?
Do you think this report would be useful in making the decision on where to spend the limited budget?
You betcha. Welcome to visitor / customer retention metrics and reporting.
Simply put, the profitability of the visitor / customer in the future is affected by their initial experiences with the web site, most specifically the marketing approach that brought them to the site in the first place.