Clickstream

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A Clickstream is the recording of what a computer user clicks on while web browsing or using a personal computer.

As the user clicks anywhere in the tool, application or the webpage the action is logged on a client or inside the web server, as well as possibly the web browser, routers, proxy servers, and ad servers.

Clickstream analysis is used for analyzing employee productivity, software testing, market research and web activity analysis.

Since the business world is quickly evolving into a state of e-commerce, analyzing the data of clients that visit a company website is becoming a necessity in order to remain competitive. This analysis can be used to generate two findings for the company, the first being an analysis of a user’s clickstream while using a website to reveal usage patterns, which in turn gives a heightened understanding of customer behaviour. This use of the analysis creates a user profile that aids in understanding the types of people that visit a company’s website. As discussed in Van den Poel & Buckinx (2005), clickstream analysis can be used to predict whether a customer is likely to purchase from an e-commerce website. Clickstream analysis can also be used to improve customer satisfaction with the website and with the company itself. Both of these uses generate a huge business advantage.

With the growing corporate knowledge of the importance of clickstreams, the way that they are being monitored and used to build Business Intelligence is evolving. Data mining, column-oriented DBMS, and integrated OLAP systems are being used in conjunction with clickstreams to better record and analyze this data.

Clickstreams can also be used to allow the user to see where they have been and allow them to easily return to a page they have already visited.


Unauthorized clickstream data collection is considered to be spyware, however there are organizations that use opt-in panels to generate market research using panelists who opt-in to share their clickstream data with other companies.

Tracking PC Clickstream enables software developers to enhance their products based on the feedback loop with the users that is created. Organizations take advantage of Clickstream data to optimize employee productivity, enable regulatory compliance and license management.


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