Marketing trong kinh doanh và Doanh nghiệp: APPLICATION OF CLICKSTREAM ANALYTICS FOR DECISION SUPPORT IN MARKETING. This first chapter introduces you to the basic concepts of marketing. We start with the question: What is marketing? Simply put, marketing is engaging customers and managing profitable customer relationships. The aim of marketing is to create value for customers in order to capture value from customers in return. Next we discuss the five steps in the marketing process—from understanding customer needs, to designing customer value–driven marketing strategies and integrated marketing programs, to building customer relationships and capturing value for the firm. Finally, we discuss the major trends and forces affecting marketing in this new age of digital, mobile, and social media. Understanding these basic concepts and forming your own ideas about what they really mean to you will provide a solid foundation for all that follows. Let’s start with a good story about marketing in action at Emirates, the largest international airline in the world and one of the bestknown brands on the planet. Emirate’s success results from much more than just offering a way to connect people from point A to point B. It’s based on a customerfocused marketing strategy by which Emirates creates customer value through deep brand– customer engagement and close brand community with and among its customers. EmiratEs’ CUstOmEr VaLUE—DriVEN markEtiNg: Engaging Customers and Building a Brand Community Emirates is not just offering a way to connect people from point A to point B but is the catalyst to connect people’s dreams, hopes, and aspirations. Marketing Creating Customer Value and Engagement customer needs of surfing the Internet, emailing, or simply calling a land line while in the airplane, as well as exclusive lounges for its clientele. These offerings have allowed Emirates to deliver its value proposition to its customers and support its mission statement of committing to high standards. The Skywards Program, the airlines’ frequent traveler loyalty program, also plays a key role in helping Emirates build strong customer relationships. In an industryleading innovation, members now earn miles by zone instead of actual miles flown. A “miles accelerator feature” offers bonus miles on specific flights and is designed to boost turnover on flights with less full flights. Facing increased and fierce competition, Emirates has launched a range of customer service initiatives that support differentiation, including Dubai Connect, an incentive for premiumclass passengers offering free luxury hotel accommodation, including meals, ground transportation, and visa costs in Dubai. Another differentiating element of its customer service is Chauffeurdrive, a service offered to customers flying firstclass or businessclass. Emirates chauffeurs collect customers from their doorstep or will be present to take them to their final destination when they land. This could be the best marketing.
Introduction Research goal and background The overall goal of the paper is to make a strong and reasoned recommendation to Vietnamese small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) on clickstream analytics It is a promising information technology application for decision support in Marketing in the connected age Specific objectives include providing an overview of the application of clickstream analytics in the context of the new wave of technology in the connected age, introducing a system approach to adopting clickstream analytics solutions in enterprise context, and making practical recommendations for Vietnam government and SME owners Geoffrey Moore said, “Without big data analytics, companies are blind and deaf, wandering out onto the web like deer on a freeway.” [1] According to Peter Sondergaard, “Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine” [1] These great quotes are incredible insights into the world of big data analytics, the benefits of metrics, and much more They are messages about strategic value of big data (a valuable asset) and analytics (a specific and purpose-focused analysis) Together, big data and analytics fundamentally change the way enterprises compete and operate With the various disruptive technologies revolving around increased level of connectivity, consumers are most informed than ever before [13] According to the third annual Digital Consumer Study [30], around 50% of consumers have performed shopping-related tasks on their mobile phones in the past three months Consumers state they are using digital technology to search, browse and purchase, sometimes exclusively on one website When taking through a website, web user/customer will generate a large amount of the so called "clickstream data" or "digital footprint" The question is how to gain a holistic view of users’/customers’ online journey? The answer is clickstream analytics, an inter-disciplinary field associated with big data and web mining One of the main benefits of clickstream data is the derivation of customized user experience [19] It is a powerful tool for businesses to leverage on Online business can gain an edge to their competitors by having insights into customers’ preferences and behaviors [28] Business challenges Although insight-driven marketing is already a major area under the modern marketing communication umbrella, clickstream a nalytics are much lesser known to laymen outside of the marketing industry With the boom of start-ups and high proportion of family-run small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam, an in-depth and manager-friendly coverage on clickstream analytics could boost business performance and provide significant value to the public This is the key motivation behind this paper: “Application of clickstream analytics for decision support in marketing in the connected age - A recommendation for Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises” Research methodologies In this research, we have applied a system approach to business problem solving with information technology to ensure that the recommendation for application of clickstream analytics is reasonable, reliable and feasible The system approach is widely used in problem-solving in different contexts, including science and technology The following steps are required for this approach: Defining the problem or opportunity, developing alternative solutions, selecting a solution, designing the solution, implementing the solution, and reviewing the solution Being a qualitative research-based paper, an IS-related literature review (Information System) was selected as the most appropriate methodology for a review and synthesis of existing knowledge This is a systematic methodological data processing approach comprised of three major stages: 1) inputs (literature gathering and screening), 2) processing (following Bloom’s Taxonomy), and 3) outputs (writing the literature review) The process of "Literature gathering & screening/ Literature processing/ Report producing" is applied repeatedly to ensure that the relevant knowledge was gathered [14] Throughout the literature review process, we follow a consistent and coherent approach to application of the nonroutine cognitive skills: abstract reasoning (the ability to make and manipulate models – Models in Fig 1, Fig 2, Fig 3,Fig 4), system thinking (the ability to model the components of the system, to connect the inputs and outputs among those components into a sensible whole that reflects the structure and dynamics of the phenomenon observed – The Clickstream analytics value chain in Fig 3), collaboration (the ability to develop ideas and plans with others, ability to give and receive critical feedback – In-depth interviews with experts from SMEs for current status of clickstream analytics application), and experimentation (the ability to create and test promising new alternatives, consistent with available resources – A strong and reasoned recommendation to Vietnamese small-medium sized enterprises with Web presence for clickstream analytics application ) The following four sections will provide an introduction to the new wave of technology in the connected age and its implications for marketing (section 2), an overview of the application of clickstream analytics for decision support in marketing, including real-world case studies and research (section 3), a system approach to the implementation of clickstream analytics in the enterprise context (section 4); and finally some managerial recommendations for Vietnam government and SME owners (section 5) New wave of technology in the connected age and its implications for marketing New wave of technology in the connected age Through the ages, human beings have witnessed many phases of extraordinary technological feats, categorizing into four phases of industrial revolutions: the first revolution with the steam engine as the greatest invention (the original industrial revolution), the second revolution with electricity and the technique of mass production, and the third revolution with the wide use of digital computers and the appearance of the Internet connected the world Now, the world is experiencing a new storm of the current and latest revolution, with an intensive and extensive change in size, scope, and complexity never seen before This is the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) This is the evolution to cyber-physical systems with industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and decentralized intelligence in manufacturing, production, logistics and the industry Interestingly the concept of marketing has evolved through the exact same phases (Fig 1.) The first phase is known as Marketing 1.0 It is a product-driven marketing where all activities were centered on the products, and mass production with the lowest possible cost was the thrust of the marketing strategy (product-centric) The second phase is known as Marketing 2.0, started early the third industrial revolution It is the marketing practice in which customers become the first priority (consumer-centric) The third phase is known as Marketing 3.0, started to begin of the connected age, and is ongoing It is not focused merely on products and or consumers but human-centric, or value-driven The fourth phase, started to begin of the fourth industrial revolution (early 2010s), is known as Marketing 4.0 This is a holistic approach to marketing that combines online and offline exposure to consumers It exploits the efficiency and effectiveness of interconnectivity of online data and services while balance it with the human touch on customer engagement [13] Fig depicts the evolving of marketing tandem with the four industrial eras \Source: Author's compilation from [13, 29] In the 4IR, top innovations that have had the most significant economic impact include: Cloud Technology, the Internet of Things, mobile Internet, Social Media, Big Data & advanced Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Reality/ Virtual Reality, Automation of Knowledge Work, Advanced Robotics, 3-D Printing, Blockchain Technology, and many others [3, 16] Cloud Computing has gone mainstream for many enterprises, IoT is changing how both industrial and consumer-oriented businesses business, and Big Data & Analytics have become the core platform Implications of innovative technologies to marketing Having a clearer understanding of innovative technologies in the connected age, we can return to cover their impacts in shaping marketing industry in the past decade and the one to come Technology becomes essential and integral to the operations of highly effective organizations They have not only changed the consumer behavior, but also the marketing and business model Firstly, consumer behavior is evolving with the rise of the empowered customer Technology is a powerful tool in influencing and changing consumer behavior, and digital tools have become integrated into the customer's shopping experience With the booming IoT trend, people are moving most day-to-day activities to their mobiles, tablets, and computers This includes entertainment, socializing, and shopping The difference is that most online platforms nowadays contain functions that allow two-way communications, between consumers and businesses, even on nonsocial media platform Secondly, new technologies have changed basic marketing activities They help businesses perform vital marketing functions in the face of the rapid changes of today’s environment Many digital marketing techniques, solutions, tools and models are developed for enterprises, such as marketing automation, social media marketing, mobile marketing, inbound marketing, outbound marketing, viral marketing, influencer marketing, mobile marketing, etc Thirdly, new technologies drive new business models There are many new businesses founded on the community in the digital age, like Google, Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, Italki, Tesla, etc., They focus on understanding human digital relationship and harness the insights Technology is the key to satisfied customers and successful business Data can speak on behalf of people about what they want and need [22] This paper will continue to explain the process of clickstream analytics from a business manager perspective We will focus on application of clickstream analytics in marketing Clickstream analytics and decision support in marketing Why clickstream analytics for marketing decision support? Clickstream analytics refers to the management and analysis of pattern in clickstream and associated data collected as a result of user interaction with web resources Clickstream analytics is not technologically radical, but it is only in the digital transformation that the discipline has been known to a wider group of researchers and practitioners and become increasingly more popular in the online retail space Clickstream analytics can help to transform businesses into agile, insight-driven organizations Clickstream data is powerful and relevant for managers Web users reveal what products they are interested in, at what stage the purchase process is aborted, what questions in FAQs is clicked most Through A/B-Testing clickstream data can reveal which kind of product presentation leads to most purchases, how the website should be designed Source: Author In business environment, the idea to develop an IT solution/ information system is kickstarted by one or more than one of the following factors: 1) a business problem, 2) an opportunity presents itself, and 3) a change in environment, competition, or regulation that forces the company to adapt to survive With this approach, applying clickstream analytics into the value chain of the business is a given, and a smart choice for businesses going through digital transformation (Fig 2.) Firstly, businesses are facing problems in terms of lack of business intelligence on customers' behavior and preference, and also with customers being more well-informed Secondly, many of the new disruptive technologies are bringing in a golden opportunity to businesses to compete in the global supply chain Thirdly, the application of innovative technologies, particularly those based on big data and advanced analytics are key survival and success conditions to businesses Fig describes the key considerations in choosing clickstream analytics as a solution for marketing decision support In the next section we explore the value-adding process of clickstream analytics Clickstream analytics value chain In terms of getting to an outcome from big data & analytics, it is exactly the so called "five element data value chain", beginning with "data", through "information", "analytics", "insight", and finally to "action" It is also referred as "the data/information/analytics/insights value chain" [18] Fig depicts the value chain of the clickstream analytics from system perspective, that helps extract web usage pattern/ insights from clickstream data These insights can be used for multiple purposes, e.g to increase the customer value, improve the website, or improve the data preprocessing Simplified, the value chain of clickstream analytics is an operational feedback loop that sustains itself There are five steps/ activities, each with a unique objective/ outcome and adds value to the value chain's output (Fig 3.) Source: Authors compilation from [18, 23, 25] Step 1: Data collection In this step, various user interactions with business’s system are recorded (raw data) However, the load of raw data recorded is massive and messy, and the raw data themselves are not formatted to be mined and being not be directly used There is a need for data preparation before clickstream analytics performance Step 2: Data preparation The preprocessing in the second step encompasses collecting, merging, cleaning, and structuring relevant data For example, when analyzing the demand for a new brand of household product, the manager need to be retrieved relevant search and purchase trend from web log file and transform them into miningable format (prepared data) The outcome of the preprocessing is information Step 3: Analytics performance In this step, the prepared data will be pulled and processed with analytics software to give relevant analytics (information that has been sorted through, using a range of algorithms and programs, so that aggregated trends or results are visible, e.g usage pattern, customer profiles, page profiles, visit profiles, customer value) Step 4: Insight presentation It is about presentation of key insights Once the analytics/ data-driven metrics are obtained from the analytics software, human involvement is essential in drawing out the actual insights (key learning from the analytics, identified in terms of meaningful business conclusions that can be drawn) Sometimes it takes several metrics and other information combined to tell a story Step 5: Decision making Management can base on the presented insights (in form of intelligent and meaningful recommendations) and consider the available resources to take actions to correct or exploit the results of all the work done in the data/information/analytics/insights value chain so far, that are fitting to the business’ overall current performance, and forwarding strategy The actions taken by the business ultimately leads back to user interactions This closes the value-adding cycle and the data will continuously be used to shape future business decisions Application of clickstream analytics for decision support in marketing For the uninitiated, clickstream data when captured, aggregated and processed can provide a lot of insightful information that can benefit businesses A disclaimer note is needed that clickstream analytics is available only if you have any form of online presence In association with big data analytics, clickstream analytics is a valuable tool for businesses to be used to drive sales by optimizing every aspect of the user experience on their websites from the first mouse click to the last As sorted accordingly by [5], several of the top direct benefits are: Click-path optimization Optimization can pin-point which path has the lowest “conversion rate”, meaning customer stop or exit before finishing the purchase This would signal to you that you need to make changes to certain product page paths Market basket analysis Basket analysis gives you a clearer understanding of aggregate consumption behavior A customer can reach your product page via different path (direct, suggested item, external ads-placement, etc.) This valuable information allows marketer to identify and focus resources on the most efficient path to the product Website resource allocation For slightly bigger businesses with multiple modules on their websites, web development and management can be human-capital intensive It is a challenge to allocate human resources efficiently Clickstream data analysis shows which part of the site is more heavily visited and need constant renovation and maintenance Customer segmentation By categorizing customers by their behaviors, marketers have a way of segmenting the buyers and their relevant parameters (purchasing power, preferences, etc.) This gives marketers valuable and actionable insights This is a non-exhaustive list of benefits that clickstream analytics bring to the table It should be enough, however, to justify serious considerations from any business with online presence to explore their options in adopting it The above benefits listed may sound foreign to the traditional business managers, especially in the Vietnamese market We can take another perspective at how these data fit into businesses’ three decision making levels Strategic level Senior level decisions are high-level questions regarding what product to focus on, the development direction, and market awareness Seasonal traffic to enterprise’s online stores and purchase patterns help management to decide the category of products in demand and in the right cycles The overall data profile of the users also let us know which features are more desired by users for future product development Tactical level Middle level decisions are production and competition-based questions such as most efficient means of productions, best pricing strategy, advertising and promotion Analysis of product choice, which is picked over other alternatives, provides insights for pricing analysis on price to feature preference Operational level Decisions at this level are the day to day matters like tracking, documentation of operations, dealing with new operational issues An example is how the career social network LinkedIn packages users’ interaction To get customers to visit the site, LinkedIn take data when other users search up the target customer’s name or visit his profile LinkedIn would send an email inform you like “23 people visited your profile this week” (Laudon, K C., & Laudon, J.P., 2020) Real-world case studies and research of clickstream analytics in marketing Due to its high potential for analyzing consumer behavior, clickstream data has received high attention by marketing researchers and practitioners alike In the following, some real-world case studies and promising research areas that apply clickstream data in the marketing context are highlighted To get a holistic view, examples are given for each of the “Ps” of the marketing mix – product, place, price, and promotion There are numerous examples of firms leveraging clickstream data to improve their existing products or inform the process of developing new products, thus increasing success rates The Financial Times (FT), for example, analyzes its readers’ clickstreams to measure engagement with topics Supported by this information, FT decides which news stories to cover [2] Similarly, streaming service Netflix is using the behavioral data collected from its users on their website and mobile apps to guide the creation of its original content, leading to hugely successful movies and series such as House of Cards [6] While place used to stand for brick and mortar shops, in the online realm it signifies a company’s online store or mobile app Here, the usage of clickstream analytics is immediately apparent, as nowadays, websites usually personalize what content we see based on our past clickstreams Recently, researchers from the MIT have gone a step further by personalizing how the content on a website is presented Using clickstream data, the researchers derived how each user processes information – in a detailed versus holistic manner or in visual versus verbal manner Based on this prediction, the presentation of website content was automatically adapted to the personal information processing style This system, called website morphing, has been successfully tested in the field with a large global telecommunications company, which was able to lift sales by 20% [24] Personalizing prices online is a delicate topic as customers usually feel treated unfairly if they have to pay a higher price for an identical product than another customer However, marketing managers can circumvent this perception of unfair treatment by using individualized price promotions and coupons Microsoft feeds users’ clickstream information into a predictive system that creates individualized e-mail advertisements The results are conversion rates up to 70% higher than for conventional e-mail campaigns [11] Another aspect of marketing that has benefitted from clickstream data immensely are promotions Based on users’ prior behavior online, predictive models can adapt who sees an advertisement and what is displayed in that ad This type of behavioral targeting has been shown to double advertising effectiveness compared to untargeted advertisements [12] Consequently, nowadays, behavioral targeting is widely used in the industry and offered by all major advertising agencies Beyond the Ps, there are numerous other applications of clickstream data in the realm of marketing As many firms nowadays try to establish relationships with their customers, they have also turned to clickstream analytics to make their customer relationship management efforts more effective and efficient For example, data from clickstreams can be used to analyze the recency, frequency, and monetary value (RFM) of a user’s past online shop visits in order to estimate the strength of the relationship with her as well as her customer lifetime value (CLV) [9] In the next section, we examine the process of implementation of clickstream analytics in enterprise context Implementation of clickstream analytics solutions in enterprises Strategies for implementation of clickstream analytics Referring to the process chart (Fig in 3.2.) on the step-by-step process of data analytics, managers can have a clearer look at what their options are in engaging into web analytics field Our aim is to make it easy and userfriendly for managers to understand what resources they would need to acquire for each option, in terms of both human and asset resources With reference to the criteria by Larry Chase [8], we see three main options businesses can consider There are also other considerations to list the costs and benefits of each path Fig depicts the three options for acquisition of a clickstream analytics solution Option 1: Complete in-house web analytics team The company hires both the back-end IT team and the marketing analytics team The back-end team works with the existing web development team and their job is the setting up and maintenance of the software analytics tools The analysts of the marketing analytics team also need to have a strong understanding of how to navigate the analytics tool as users to extract relevant insights Pre-requisite knowledge, experiences, or training courses are vital for potential staff in these roles The company also needs to pay subscription fees for the analytic software The advantages of in-house option are the full control of the team and workflow and higher efficiency from internal communication versus external communication The disadvantages are administrative and salary expenses from hiring additional teams, and the need to source for talented and capable individuals to build the teams Source: Author Option 2: In-house analysts, out-sourced back-end The difference from option is that you not hire the back-end IT team The company would then only need to hire the marketing analytics team who would frequently communicate with the out-sourced back-end services to maintain the information flow This option has most of the benefits from option 1, while the business still maintain control over the main analytics process for efficient research and can choose a reputable company to provide back-end server services guarantee reliability of the system and data The disadvantages are similar disadvantages to option but to a lesser extent due to outsourcing the back-end IT staff Option 3: Complete out-source This is a viable option for businesses with lean operations The company would be fully out-sourcing the job to a marketing analytics agency The agency would obtain the data on behalf of the company, perform the analysis, and make routine presentations to the management for a fixed fee The company would then only need a traditional marketing team and not have to hire extra data analysts With complete outsource option, analytics package ensures high quality analysis and is a simple solution for SMEs and fixed service fees are easier to manager and budget for However, there are some disadvantages, namely management is entirely reliant on the marketing agency to provide analysis and business has less control over timeline and quality of analysis reports Evaluating and choosing the right web analytics software solution Regardless of which option a business goes with, from in-house to fully outsourcing, careful selection of the web analytics service suite can largely affect the success of a business' online presence Managers need to have a clear understanding of their own business structure, characteristics, and thus, operational needs The right software solution is one that allows the businesses to measure what is important to the business, fulfill the business needs, and works with the business situation By carefully evaluating and choosing the best fit, a marketer can obtain reliable and comprehensive insights into user behaviors and make strategic decisions So how may a manager go about deciding on a web analytics tool, whether on their own or at the consult of a marketing agency? There is a three-step process that helps a business evaluate and choose the right clickstream analytics solution Step 1: Align website/ clickstream analytics application with business goal It is about executive commitment for web analytics The business need to understand how the analytics tool can help you By first identifying the key goals the manager is looking at like customer retention, or conversion rate and making sure they fit the main goals of the business, the business can be sure that acquiring an analytics tool is the right move Step 2: Define business need and situation Business needs and situations vary so much that listing and prioritizing them are complex task For a clear understanding, we grouped factors to be considered into two main categories: business-specific and technology-specific Business-specific aspects are KPI need, demand for integration of web analytics data with other data sources, the size and total analytics budget of the business, among others On the other hand, type of processing (real-time, batch, or inline?), security & privacy requirement, needs for vendor’s support are technology-specific considerations Step 3: Evaluate and select the right web analytics software solution Having a broad picture of business’ needs and situations, it is then key to rank and prioritize the top needs to be addressed by the web analytics tool According to [4, 10], there is a long list of factors to be considered when choosing a solution We can classify the relevant factors into two groups: functional and non-functional Functional factors are reporting capability, compatibility issues, and scalability, among others In opposite side, types of installation mode, total cost, vendor’s reliability, respecting legal requirements relating to data collection and data protection, capability to process data in real-time, availability of documentation in customer’s language and support are considered as non-functional factors (Clickinsight, 2017) Recommendation for Vietnamese SME owners Current status of information technology application in Vietnamese SMEs In Vietnam, there is a huge surge in the number of SMEs throughout the past three decades with a large number of family businesses The SMEs are essentially the main driver of the economy According to a report from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), nearly 98% of Vietnamese enterprises are SMEs, but they generate up to 51% of total employment and contribute 40% to the national GDP [27] Digital technology has had a tremendous impact on Vietnamese enterprises The question is: Are Vietnamese SMEs ready to tap digital economic potential? The answer is they are not! [20] There are still many problems with the implementation of IT for this type of enterprises in terms of organization, management, and technology In the following, we will present key findings from research that closely examines Vietnamese SMEs First, there is an issue with implementing IT into the overarching business strategy Most managers have a less than ideal level of interest and attention on utilizing technology [15, 21] Most SMEs not have a plan for using IT in business, and not have dedicated planning teams for IT strategies Hence, there is an observable lack of considering IT solutions in order to achieve business goals [15] Second, there is lack of specialized human resources Decision making is mainly performed by enterprises’ owners or leaders, but as shown above, most of them lack the strategic vision of IT application and not fully aware of the business value of new technologies, including social networks as well as internal collaboration tools Even more critical is the lack of employees and managers with the knowledge to handle the complexities of data analytics and with the ability to simplify the output for daily use Vietnam Democratic & Legal Magazine provides further statistics on this: Among business owners in Vietnam, up to 56% not have any form of tertiary education Only 40% are university graduates or higher or have some form of specialized training or polytechnic background Third, SMEs not fully take advantage of the opportunities the Internet provides Vietnam has great potential in Internet and mobile connectivity, but most businesses are not yet ready to tap on this potential According to VCCI data, Vietnam has a 95% Internet penetration rate for SMEs, but 60% cannot effectively apply it to achieve business goals [27] Vietnam ranks fifth in terms of number of people connecting online in the Asia-Pacific region with up to 55% of Vietnamese owning smart phones and some 52 million people connecting online [27] With the millions of connected devices, there is huge potential in the market However, according to Kevin O'Kane [26], managing director of small business operations at Google Asia Pacific, most Vietnamese SMEs are unable and not ready to tap into internet-based services’ potential, such as e-Commerce Fourth, there is a lack of business process standardization Business processes of SMEs are often poor and inefficient There is a lack of coherence with the global standards for operations and supply chain with IT Up to 50% SMEs not have a functional documentation process for their standard operating procedure With this fundamental understanding established, our focus is of course on new technology marketing According to Dave Chaffey and Mark Patron [7], for businesses with online presence, the top hindering factors to adopting data analytics for goals such as conversion rate optimization (how many people who visits your website actually make a purchase) are lack of resources, budget, and strategy These three key factors are similar to the settings of local SMEs in Vietnam that we have established Taken together, the overarching challenges that SMEs in Vietnam face in successfully leveraging IT are a lack of 1) top management support, 2) specialized employees, 3) familiarity with online services, and 4) standardized processes As a consequence, most Vietnamese SMEs are lacking the proper foundation to collect and analyze big data – especially clickstream data – and to integrate it into their value chain Therefore, they are unable to reap the various kinds of benefits of clickstream analytics as described in the previous chapters Managers’ perception of data analytics is low, with no clear plan for investment into these technologies Most marketing analytics teams in SMEs are minor and small part of the traditional marketing team In-depth interviews with experts from SMEs from the service sector suggest that most of their companies have not looked at clickstream analytics as a data solution, nor they have any concept of it In terms of the data/information/analytics/insights value chain, most companies stop after extracting the information from transactional data This limits the use of information to purely operational management level Very few businesses are using these data for business intelligence that can be presented to support the decision-making process at both managerial levels: the tactical and the strategic The current situation of IT and data analytics shows that Vietnamese SMEs are not ready to take advantage of the emerging opportunities of new wave of technology to improve their competitiveness and to join the global supply chain Therefore, we will conclude with managerial recommendations to Vietnam government and SME owners Recommendations for Vietnam government and SMEs owners The digital transformation has opened the doors to all types of organizations, including small businesses and startups According to Kotler [13], smaller, younger, and locally based businesses will have a chance to compete against bigger, older, and global businesses This is particularly applicable to Vietnam SMEs, as Vietnam is rated as one of the countries with the highest potential to build a digital knowledge-based economy with a strong start-up culture (#7 in the world) [26] According to Google Customer Barometer, more than half the population is connected to the Internet and and 43% of consumers’ purchase were first started with online exposure By correctly applying emerging innovative technologies, especially the Internet, and mobile connectivity platform, SMEs can perform a successful e-Business and e-Commerce From a marketing perspective, small businesses can be even more competitive if they can exploit the innovative technologies to connect with communities of customers and partners for co-creation and with competitors for coopetition FPT Group president Truong Gia Binh also said that the 4IR brings along new ideas and technologies that start-ups can exploit to break into new niche markets [17] Due to its immense potential, digital innovation should be the number one strategy priority for SMEs This is essential to their survival, success, and growth In recent years, the government has pushed out many SMEs development initiatives They are degrees, resolutions, and decisions, that improve business environment, enhance SMEs competitiveness, and strengthen cooperation between SMEs and large businesses, promoting PPP Among them Resolution 19/NĐ-CP (2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017) on improving business environment and national competitiveness, Decision 58/2013/QĐ-TTg on establishment and operation of the credit guarantee funds for SMEs, and the Prime Minister Decision 844/QĐ-TTg dated 18 May 2016 on promulgating the scheme to support the national innovative startup ecosystem through 2025 are the typical representatives Even with the policies, to successfully push for digital innovation strategy, there are some critical factors that should be ensured: From government side We need a strong digital infrastructure by focusing on the quality of Internet connection for both landlines and mobile connection We need to focus on building the existing 4G network to the standard of first world countries, and at the same time research on 5G technology This will help us get ahead of the IoT trend A government provided Data Centers services will enable all SMEs to have access to a basic level of cloud services This allows SMEs to take advantage of these innovations without having to heavily invest in their own system The supportive role of the government, VCCI in legal, management, capital, and IT infrastructure issues will enable SMEs to break into the global market From the SMEs side To compete effectively in the connected age, SMEs owners should change their perception of IT application in business and management, and improve the planning of emerging innovative technologies Digital innovation should be the priority with the mantra ‘think big, start small, and scale up fast’ Everyone should work together to push for the so called Vietnamese Digital Knowledge System that the government pushed out in Decision 677/ QĐ-TTg 18/5/2017, with the website https://itrithuc.vn/ This will be a complete ecosystem for SMEs to utilize digital innovations In terms of application of clickstream analytics, there are some managerial recommendations for SMEs owners In deciding your course of action altogether, it is essential to establish that (1) it is not all about the data or how much of it the enterprise has Instead, it is about the value one extracts from the data and how The most important product of a clickstream analytics process is business intelligence that analyzes patterns, trends, and relationships for marketing strategic decision making To achieve high quality business intelligence enterprises need a professionally implemented clickstream analytics system Above all else, the determining factor is how managers understand, interpret and utilize the business intelligence to support their decision-making Solution guideline for this is managers need to understand precisely how clickstream analytics can provide value for their business, enterprises need to think carefully about whether they can create a genuinely workable clickstream analytics system and how the system relates to their overall business strategy as well as their marketing management goals; (2) during the development process there should be an effective collaboration between the back-end IT team and the marketing team In information system development and use, besides technology asset and human asset, partnering relationship for joint IT-business decision making is considered as a relationship asset Businesses can only have a high-quality analytics system if there is a strong collaboration between the technical staff and the business users Solution guideline for this is for business to involve both IT team and marketing team when implementing a clickstream analytics system They go hand in hand throughout the development process, from system analysis to system design, system operation, and system maintenance; (3) the biggest challenge is the integration and acceptance of analytical tools in the enterprise Choosing the right clickstream analytics software is of utmost important Furthermore, how to integrate a clickstream analytics system as a new application smoothly into business practice, and how to overcome user’s resistance are the two biggest questions Solution guideline for this is that managers should put in place a change management plan for dealing with impacted groups within the enterprise as well as with customers and other business partners in the enterprise’s network of value creation It means that before embarking on clickstream analytics initiatives, managers will need to identify carefully the organizational changes required to make them work To overcome user’s resistance, your enterprise should seek to understand system’s target users during the development process as soon as possible and put in place a user’s training plan (4) there is no one-size-fit-all solution to pick up and implement web analytics solutions On one hand, there are various types of enterprises with Web presence in term of sector, size, and others The management requirements may be different from enterprise to enterprise On the other hand, there are dozens of great solutions with various functionalities Choosing an enterprise web analytics partner is hard Solution guideline for this is that managers need to a careful and reasoned analysis of selection factors and criteria from different dimensions (organization, management, and technology) when evaluating and selecting web analytics tools We suggest a three-pronged summary condensed from our above discussion First prong: Consider the size of your business The marketing team should be proportional to the size of the company A small company does not warrant a need for an in-house marketing analytics team Small businesses should go for full package services outsourced to marketing agency (Refer to Option in 4.1) This gives a good compromise between resources spent and reward from the analytics process Second prong: The second consideration is whether your core business is running sustainably with minimal operational issues A business should first put its focus on delivering the proposed goods and services Establishing stable inventory, logistics, and sales teams should be the focus of the business before attempting to upscale revenue via webs analytics As a result, if a business has sufficient resources and size but still need to focus on building its core operations, a semi-outsourced solution would be the best fit (Refer to Option in 4.1) Third prong: The last consideration is based on the proportion between online and offline sales Most SMEs in Vietnam operate within a city area or surrounding cities with both online and brick-and-mortar stores Their sales are mostly driven by physical store sales A handful provides delivery services across the country and rely on extensive online presence When your online sale is a key driver of total revenue, there is an abundance of web data available, and the potential gain from utilizing analytics tool is equally immense Therefore, it would be ideal to follow Option and build an in-house team 10 For the business following either option and 2, it is essential to refer to 4.2 To familiarize with the process of selecting the best-fit analytics solution for the company Conclusion This paper aimed at providing a holistic view of clickstream analytics application for decision support in marketing in the connected age, targeting Vietnamese SMEs The general introduction to new wave of technology and its impact on marketing helps managers recognize the importance of digital transformation for marketers to guide customers throughout their journey from awareness and ultimately to advocacy The in-depth and manager-friendly clickstream analytics is also covered to provide marketing managers and leaders crucial knowledge and better understanding about key issues of application of clickstream analytics for marketing: from theory to practice Most importantly, managerial recommendations to Vietnam government and SMEs based on a comprehensive examination of the current information technology status in Vietnamese SMEs have been discussed to assist Vietnamese SMEs in implementing the digital innovation strategies and clickstream analytics solutions 11 ... process of clickstream analytics from a business manager perspective We will focus on application of clickstream analytics in marketing Clickstream analytics and decision support in marketing Why clickstream. .. enterprises, such as marketing automation, social media marketing, mobile marketing, inbound marketing, outbound marketing, viral marketing, influencer marketing, mobile marketing, etc Thirdly,... value-adding cycle and the data will continuously be used to shape future business decisions Application of clickstream analytics for decision support in marketing For the uninitiated, clickstream