5 customer journey metrics you’re not tracking but should be

If those account creation screens look off-brand, new customers will be wary to enter in their info.Too many clicks? That can translate into abandoned carts. Old school username and password requirements can send users into your account recovery process more often than they like. Any one of those can create frustration and tank prospect’s perception of your brand.

Optimizing the log-in journey is all about eliminating friction points. To do that, you have to know where those friction points are.

Enter customer journey metrics.

Your marketing team is likely tracking the big ones: website traffic, conversion rates, new accounts. But that’s not the whole story.

With a modern customer identity and access management (CIAM) solution, you can see whether – and exactly where – customers are getting stuck in the sign-up and sign-in journey. And you can see whether the root cause is system performance, a mismatch with users’ desired behavior, or something else.

Here are 5 of the most important customer journey analytics that your brand should start tracking today.

Key Metric 1. Median time to complete the sign-up journey

The median time to complete your sign-up journey tells you how long it takes a user to create an account. The clock starts when they click the “Register” button and stops when your new customer is set up, signed-in, and ready to complete their transaction on your site or app. 

In addition to tracking the average total sign-up time, you can peel back the layers and look at this metric screen by screen. That’ll reveal any bottlenecks and show you exactly where the registration process can be streamlined. 

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💡Related metrics: Number of successful, failed and abandoned sign-ups

Why does it matter?

In short, because your customers are busy people. The time it takes to register on your site or app is a key indicator of the customer experience. 

A lengthy or complicated registration process can lead to high abandonment rates. Independent web research firm Baymard Institute found that 26% of users abandon the registration process because it’s too long or complicated. Conversely, a smooth process not only boosts conversion rates, it also increases user satisfaction with your brand. 

How long is too long? According to Feathery, the average form abandonment time is 1 minute and 43 seconds. Digital experts at Hubspot say reducing the number of form fields from four to three could boost conversion rates by almost 50%.

Tips for optimizing

1. Simplify the process itself. Reduce the number of steps and fields required to get registered. Better still, let users skip the username and password step by offering quick and easy sign-up options like social login and passwordless authentication. 
2. Focus on design. Make every interface that users encounter during registration user-friendly and intuitive. 
3. Make it easy to get help. Provide tooltips, chat support, and other real-time assistance options for users who get confused. 

Key Metric 2. Percentage of sign-up and sign-in by method

The key to happy customers is anticipating what they want. And when it comes to signing in, they’ll show you each and every time they access your site or app.

Are they comfortable with biometrics? Which social login options (if any) do they use? Do they set up multi-factor authentication (MFA)? Or is it all passwords all the time?

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💡Related metrics: Number of MFA authentications, number of identity verification transactions, sign-in success, failure, and abandonment rates 

Why does it matter?

By tracking the distribution of log-ins across all the options you offer, you can get a sense of the value your customers place on convenience and security. And by tracking trends over time, you can make the evolution of your sign-in journey a data-driven one.

By combining insights on the methods customers use most with stats on compromised accounts (yes, you can track that too!), you may be able to identify security gaps in the process. That too can inform your CIAM roadmap – for example, indicating a need for MFA options that are easy to adopt and help block account takeovers.

How can I improve it? 

• Analyze trends. Keep an eye on which authentication options your customers are using and which ones aren’t getting much love. Evolve your registration process accordingly.
• Optimize sign-in methods. Make sure that the methods customers prefer are secure, on brand, and low friction. 
• Promote secure options. Design your journey to guide customers toward more secure authentication methods – like social login, passwordless, and MFA – by highlighting their benefits. For streamlined success, conduct A/B testing to see which secure methods are most popular before rolling out broadly. 

Key Metric 3. Number of password resets

This metric monitors the volume and frequency of password reset requests.

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💡Related metrics: Forgotten username requests, voice call/SMS and email resend requests

Why does it matter?

Password resets are a critical indicator of user experience and security. (Nobody wants to reset their password, and yet Statista reports that 34% of people do it at least once a month and 15% find themselves doing it weekly.)

A high number of password resets could signal that your password policies are too stringent, which can make it difficult for customers to remember their credentials. Other possible root causes are inadequate password management options or compromised accounts, which may indicate security gaps. 

High password reset volumes drive what are often hidden costs. Gartner reports that as many as half of all helpdesk calls are about resetting passwords, and Forrester estimates that the average support call costs $70.

How can I improve it? 

• Offer self-service options. Empower customers to manage their own credentials, including password resets and username requests. You’ll get happier customers and support staff while lowering costs.
• Collaborate with IT. Review password policies and requirements with your security folks to ensure they are user-friendly and effective without being overly stringent, thus reducing the frequency of password resets. 
• Implement passwordless authentication. Let users skip the whole password thing entirely. Provide – and encourage – options like biometrics, magic links, and social login, and you will likely see the number of password resets drop fast. 

Key Metric 4. Abandon rate by registration step

This metric highlights the steps or screens where customers commonly abandon the registration process. Looking at counts and percentages can help pinpoint usability hurdles and opportunities to streamline the sign-up and sign-in journeys.

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💡Related metrics: Number of abandoned registrations, registration success rates, successful registration duration, failed registrations

Why does it matter?

By tracking where users abandon the registration process, you can identify friction points and areas for improvement in the journey. 

For example, Baymard discovered that 82% of e-commerce sites have very complex password requirements that inhibit new users from creating accounts. With 77% of users preferring social login over creating a new password, now might be the time to look at optimizing registration options. 

How can I improve it? 

• Identity drop-off points. Pinpoint where users are abandoning the registration process. Is it the sign-up box? Cumbersome verification requirements? Too much security friction? 
• Refine your design: Look at how your form is laid out. Are the fields noticeable? Is there a compelling call to action? Is the submit button easy to find? Try A/B testing with colors, messages, and fields to compare conversion rates. 
• Remove problematic steps. Simplify steps that have high abandonment rates. A common place to start is by reducing the fields required to register and looking at complex password policies. 

Key Metric 5. Number of blocked sessions

Any good sign-up and sign-in process aims to let the legit customers in while blocking bad actors. By tracking this metric, you can see how well that’s working. 

To get the full picture, you’ll need to dig into your adaptive access rules to find out why sessions are being blocked. Possible causes include security policy violations and stepped-up/stepped-down authentication measures. 

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💡Related metrics: Step-up and step-down authentication reasons, adaptive MFA by type, login failures, password resets, username resets, identity verification failures

Why does it matter?

When individuals are prevented from logging in because of suspicious activity or incorrect credentials, this can indicate either security threats or customer experience issues. 

Tracking blocked sessions helps you understand and mitigate threats while also ensuring that legitimate customers aren’t frustrated by log-in failures. 

Research by Anura shows that false positives in fraud detection and blocking can impact up to 15% of your legitimate users. If your security policies are impeding access for legitimate customers, your brand and your bottom line will take a hit. 

How can I improve it? 

• Look for patterns. Patterns across blocked sessions will reveal common causes – like bot detection, suspicious IPs, unusual login behaviors, and login attempts from multiple locations at once. Knowing the why gets you one giant step closer to a potential resolution.  
• Involve your security team. Collaborate with your IT and risk colleagues to define adaptive access controls that will step up security when justified while letting legitimate customers sail through. 
• Clarify system notifications. Make sure your customers get a clear message when their session is blocked, including the reasons and steps for resolving the issue. 

Bring the data your digital leaders need

Every digital leader knows that good business decisions start with data.

A modern CIAM solution provides all these metrics (and much more), so your brand can understand what your customers want by looking at what they do. 

By understanding the sign-up and sign-in journeys, you can optimize the customer experience, improve security, and drive strategic decisions that align with your business goals. 

Ready to see how it works? Our self-guided demo walks you through all the analytics mentioned here … and more! 

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