Gains vs. Growth

There is a fundamental difference between growth and gains. Many efforts in an organization are focused on gains (in the name of growth), while fewer efforts are focused on actual growth. Both areas help a business become better; one speaks to efficiency and effectiveness while the other speaks to marketshare and scalability.

In an eCommerce environment here are a few examples of the differences:

Gains

• Increased conversion rate

• Increased average order value

• Increased abandoned cart and abandoned session recovery

• Decreased marketing cost per order

• Social following increase

• Email list increase

Growth

• Additional sources of profitable and scalable traffic

• Increasing the annual purchase rate of a customer

• Opening a new localized market (Australia, China, Brazil, etc.)

Having these two forces develop in tandem with each other is a critical step to insuring longevity. A focus on one of these areas at the expense of the other may cause challenges over time.