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Comment by dminor | Hacker News Reader

Not only ads -- we always joke that Firefox users are cheap bastards (although now Chrome is taking over that distinction) -- here are the conversion rates for a small online apparel retailer for the last month:

IE 3.68%

Safari 2.87%

Firefox 2.73%

Chrome 1.96%

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That is interesting. But to determine whether a certain set of users is cheaper than another a better metric would be to determine the per visit value of a user. This would take into account that Safari or Chrome users might purchase larger quantities or higher value items, even though overall they might purchase less frequently.

True - Safari ranks a bit better here

IE $4.13

Safari $3.95

Firefox $3.03

Chrome $1.98

Do you have a breakdown by IE version?

It'd be interesting to see if IE6 users are providing any value to you. While web developers may gnash their teeth at the mention of IE6, I wonder if there is a financial incentive to continue supporting it. After all, the time to tell users that they need to use a better browser isn't when they come to your site to buy something.

IE6 is just about the same as Firefox on per visit value, and amounts to 7% of our revenue. We can't ignore it (yet), but we certainly don't optimize for it.

It seems obvious to me that this is so. Not because more tech-savvy users (who tend to favor Firefox, Chrome, etc.) are cheapskates but rather precisely because they know what they're doing. Less savvy users are simply paying (via clicking on ads) for more direct help, whereas more savvy users are helping themselves.

Think about it, a less experienced user is more likely to click an ad because they may not have the skills (or the confidence) to track down where to buy the advertised item on their own. Whereas a more experienced user is more likely to be able to go to their favorite online store to find an item, search several sites to find the best deal, look at competing products to compare features, etc.

It's no different than any brick and mortar store. The level of help the sales clerks tend to provide is very disproportionate, some people know exactly what they want and need no help, others need a lot of hand holding. The difference online is that we have a lot more metrics about these sorts of things.

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