Power reports impossibly confusing!
February 06, 2013

Power reports impossibly confusing!

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Custom Plan

Modules Used

  • Power Reports

Overall Satisfaction

Pros

  • Very simple integration, engineering-wise
  • Best for supporting non-technical users in running ad-hoc queries of metrics and funnels

Cons

  • Complicated queries of your data that aren't strictly activity levels and funnels and cohort reports
  • Very difficult (or impossible) to track specific states of people and events (for example, if a purchase is refunded, you won't get an accurate picture of how many purchases you actually delivered)
  • The Power Reports functionality has some horsepower, but is unbelievably confusing to set up
  • We are able to pinpoint weak points in our conversion funnel, allowing us to focus our efforts where it matters
The basic functionality in the product is quite solid. If all you want to do is basic event tracking and funnel and cohort reporting, it should work very nicely. However, we were looking to run more complicated reports than the product is built for out of the box. We were told Power Reports could handle it, but after implementing the solution, it looks like it falls short. We will likely have to switch to Keen.io or a custom-built solution.

For the basic-level analysis mentioned above, though, the product would have been perfect.
Overall, KISSmetrics has been incredibly helpful with us. Very good customer service, and they worked with us on the budget.

Product Usage

4 - The CEO checks business metrics, the sales team runs funnel analysis, the account management team tracks retention metrics, and the engineering team integrated the software.
  • Tracking key business metrics
  • Doing ad-hoc funnel analysis of site activity

Evaluation and Selection

We used Google Analytics to track basic site metrics. We also used some internal-built tools for some key business metrics. But we had nothing comparable to KISSmetrics in place beforehand.
We spoke to MixPanel support over email, described our use case, and they were very good about telling us they could not yet support it.

We are also currently evaluating Keen.io as a supplement or alternative to KISSmetrics. They offer more power, but no functionality geared toward non-technical staff.

Implementation

The JavaScript integration is right for most purposes for most web sites, and makes everything much simpler.
  • Implemented in-house
N/A

Training

  • Self-taught
Yes, it is fairly straightforward. The online documentation is good for the engineering integration. The web interface is good enough for most purposes that no training is necessary.

Configuration

The product cannot be used without implementing the KISSmetrics code and setting up meaningful Events to send the right data to them.

Support

My initial sales rep was awful. He ignored emails and was absent for calls we had scheduled. However, after I spoke with his manager, I was assigned a different rep and have since received excellent customer service and support.
No - We are very budget-constrained. But their team has been very responsive and helpful over email and phone.

Usability

For basic operations, the product is relatively user-friendly, considering how complicated a topic data and analytics can be. The engineering integration work is very straightforward, and building standard report types is pretty easy.

However, there were a few rough spots. Event mapping and some of the deeper account settings are not well explained. And the Power Reports functionality is just utterly, impossibly confusing.

Reliability

We have seen no downtime yet.
We have had no problems yet, though we are currently sending very small amounts of data.

Integration

Vendor Relationship

The sales rep initially assigned to me was terrible. He didn't know the product very well and skipped out on calls we had scheduled.

However, when I brought this to the attention of his manager, I was assigned a new rep who was excellent. They worked out a very good deal with me and helped walk me through how we could use their product to produce the metrics we were looking for.
The biggest sticking point for us was the ability to do a certain relatively complicated analysis on our data. We were told that Power Reports could handle the use case, but they typically only come with the $500/mo or more plans. As a small startup, we were looking at a budget of more like $50/mo.

The KISSmetrics team was very helpful and we worked out a deal within our budget that included the Power Reports functionality. It seems they are very willing to work with growing startups to make sure you can grow with KISSmetrics.

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