Understanding the difference between direct and assisted revenue can be tricky. Their definitions are as follows:
- Direct Revenue – Revenue generated from products bought after clicking on an item and buying that item (or items from its group ID) within a 30 day window.
- Assisted Revenue – Revenue generated from products bought after clicking on a recommended item and buying any product within the session.
To clarify, this article has three use cases to highlight the difference.
Assisted Revenue Use Case
A user clicks an item in a recommendation. In the same session, the user purchases a two different items. This means the revenue will not be counted as direct because the item that was clicked on was not purchased. However, both items were purchased in the same session so they will be counted as assisted revenue.
Direct Revenue Use Case
A user clicks on an item in a recommendation. Two days later, they return to the site and purchase that item. Because of the time gap, the revenue is not counted as assisted. However, because the item purchased was the same item that was clicked on, the revenue is counted as direct.
Direct AND Assisted Revenue Use Case
A user clicks on an item in a recommendation. In the same session, the user purchases that item, and another item as well. The item that was clicked on is counted as direct revenue. Both the clicked item, and the additional item are counted as assisted revenue because the purchase occurred in the same session. Note that the total of direct and assisted revenue is greater than the total purchase price.