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Time-weighted multi-touch attribution and channel relevance in the customer journey to online purchase

Wooff, D.A.; Anderson, J.M.

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Authors

D.A. Wooff

J.M. Anderson



Abstract

We address statistical issues in attributing revenue to marketing channels and inferring the importance of individual channels in customer journeys towards an online purchase. We describe the relevant data structures and introduce an example. We suggest an asymmetric bathtub shape as appropriate for time-weighted revenue attribution to the customer journey, provide an algorithm, and illustrate the method. We suggest a modification to this method when there is independent information available on the relative values of the channels. To infer channel importance, we employ sequential data analysis ideas and restrict to data which ends in a purchase. We propose metrics for source, intermediary, and destination channels based on twoand three-step transitions in fragments of the customer journey. We comment on the practicalities of formal hypothesis testing. We illustrate the ideas and computations using data from a major UK online retailer. Finally, we compare the revenue attributions suggested by the methods in this paper with several common attribution methods.

Citation

Wooff, D., & Anderson, J. (2015). Time-weighted multi-touch attribution and channel relevance in the customer journey to online purchase. Journal of statistical theory and practice, 9(2), 227-249. https://doi.org/10.1080/15598608.2013.862753

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 1, 2013
Online Publication Date May 24, 2014
Publication Date 2015
Deposit Date Jul 2, 2013
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Statistical Theory and Practice
Electronic ISSN 1559-8616
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 9
Issue 2
Pages 227-249
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/15598608.2013.862753
Keywords Sequential analysis, Metrics, Clickstream, Digital marketing, E-commerce, Path to conversion

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