Profit by segmenting web-acquired customers

A US commentator writes that it pays to segment web-acquired customers before treating them like more traditionally acquired mail order customers.

Although the average web-acquired customer has low average order values and a low lifetime value, the figures vary significantly depending on the exact source: search, affiliate link or whatever.

Action: segment like crazy and make sure that your data file contains multiple flags to keep track of where your web-acquired customers come from and what they were doing on-line. Once you have identified the lifetime values for your web-acquired segments, factor that in to your online marketing decisions.