Retail analytics can provide useful insights for ecommerce merchants to make improvements and changes that will drive business. By tracking various details about site traffic, retailers can get a better idea of how consumers are interacting with their sites, which may reveal weaknesses that can be addressed. This can also come in handy when it comes to marketing, as ecommerce businesses can track which of their initiatives are more successful than others.

The latest Gartner report indicated that companies are planning to invest more in their digital marketing strategies this year, as 2014 is expected to see a 10 percent increase in spending in this sector. In 2013, digital marketing spending accounted for 3.1 percent of revenue, and more funding will give marketers greater flexibility in what strategies they can implement. Having retail analytics on their side will only strengthen their ability to implement effective marketing tools.

To aid in the quest for improved retail analytics, Google is running a pilot program that allows businesses to see not just which ads customers clicked, but the results of these clicks, according to Retail Wire. If a consumer follows a banner ad to an ecommerce store, the retailer will be able to track whether or not he or she made a purchase. Then, ineffective ads can be eliminated and funding can focus instead on strategies that prove effective.