SeeWhy Takes Complex Event Processing To Web Analytics

SeeWhy, a software maker focused on complex event processing behind customer interactions, has released a free online service that helps companies reach out to Web site visitors who abandon shopping carts or start, but never complete, registration forms and other processes.

SeeWhy is using Abandonment Tracker, launched this week, as bait to entice companies into using its paid service, which will be available in a few weeks. Pricing for Abandonment Tracker Pro hasn't been disclosed.

Web site abandonment is a problem for companies. That's because up to 70% of Web site visitors abandon shopping carts and Web forms, yet only 17% of companies try to bring the potential customer back, according to SeeWhy. The company claims that with its service, companies can get 30% of those people to come back and complete what they started.

"We see this as a huge opportunity that's largely untapped," Charles Nicholls, founder and chief strategy officer of SeeWhy, said.

Users of the free service will get a list of the e-mail addresses of people who fail to complete an online application, such as for a new product or service, or who fill the shopping carts, but never make it to checkout. Because visitors are identified by their e-mail addresses, it's important that companies get people to submit their addresses in the very beginning of any process. The SeeWhy service also provides some abandonment statistics.

Tracker Pro goes beyond the free service by enabling users to set up an immediate response via e-mail when a person abandons a process. The service also helpsSeeWhy customers set up a multi-stage campaign to lure back people.

In addition, the paid service offers behavior analytics to help lower abandonment rates and includes prepackaged integration with major e-mail systems, customer relationship management software and other internal systems, such as databases used to store customer information.

SeeWhy focuses on the use of complex event processing in Web analytics. Nicholls founded the company in 2003 and has developed e-marketing and analytics systems for retailers and credit card companies. His clients have included Amazon.com, eBay, Land's End, Citibank and MasterCard.

Companies that have built CEP products have had difficulty moving beyond traditional markets for the technology, which are financial services and national intelligence. Both need the super-low latency the technology offers.

However, the growth in CEP-infused business intelligence has been slow, experts say. A few niches are expected to generate some business forCEP vendors, such as transportation and Web analytics.