Session replay

Session replay is the ability to replay a visitor's journey on a web site or within a web application. Replay can include the user's view (browser or screen output), user input (keyboard and mouse inputs), and logs of network events or console logs. Its main value is to help improve customer experience^[1] and to identify obstacles in conversion processes on websites. However it can also be used to study web site usability and customer behavior as well handling customer service questions as the full customer journey with all interactions can be replayed. Some organisations even use this capability to analyse fraudulent behavior on websites.

Some solutions augment the session replay with advanced analytics that can identify segments of customers that are struggling to use the website. This means the replay capability can be used much more efficiently and reduce the need to replay customer sessions unnecessarily.

There are generally two ways to capture and replay visitor sessions, client side and tag-free server side.

Client side

There are many tag based solutions that offer video replay of a visitors session. These solutions can also show mouse movements and clicks. The underlying data for the videos is recorded by tagging pages. Some advanced tools, such as UserReplay, are able to access the DOM directly and can play back most interactions with a high degree of accuracy. There are a number of tools out there that provide similar functions.

All of the tools listed below are available as Software as a service (SaaS) solutions.

The main providers of tag based session replay solutions are:

• UserReplay
• SessionCam
• Clicktale
• Decibel Insight
• UsabilityTools
• Mouseflow
• SessionStack

Tag-free server side

Solutions capture all website traffic and replay every visitor interaction, from every device, including all mobile users from any location. Sessions are replayed step-by-step, providing the ability to search, locate and analyse aspects of a visitors session including clicks and form entry. Server side solutions require hardware and software to be installed "on premise".

The main providers of server side session replay solutions are:

• UserReplay
• IBM Tealeaf
• Glassbox
• Qumram

Cloudmeter is now part of Splunk^[2] and is no longer available as a separate solution.

References

1. "NegativecCustomer experiences affect online conversion rates - eMarketer". www.emarketer.com. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
2. "Splunk Announces Acquisition of Cloudmeter".

http://www.sessioncam.com/blog/what-is-session-replay/ http://arnklint.com/technology/comparing-best-user-session-recording-tool.html http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clarisite-rebrands-to-glassbox-and-announces-appointment-of-new-leadership-team-members-570775781.html

https://www.userreplay.com/product/deployment-options/