A Consumer Market Researcher's Introduction To How Quantitative Research Helped Staples Build Robust Personas

Understanding and analyzing the behavior of your company's Web site visitors should go beyond collecting and analyzing site statistics. Staples represents a best-in-class example of how quantitative research can validate persona development and drive and prioritize Web site investments. Staples created a multipart study with: 1) an entry survey; 2) an identifier for each survey respondent; 3) site analytics to track user paths; 4) an exit survey; 5) a follow-up email survey; and 6) analysis of data from multiple sources. In addition to validating Staples' personas, the data is helping the firm prioritize site investments, design cross-channel interactions, and plan long-term strategy.