Targeting API

The Targeting API is used for personalising websites in realtime. Personalisation happens from the moment the visitor arrives at the website.

The Targeting API is a REST Service which can be integrated into the Content Management System or Shop Systems.

With the help of the transferred data, website content can be generated dynamically or exchanged depending on the interest of the customers. In this way, the etracker Targeting API does not just help to improve the user experience, but also to increase the conversion rate and turnover.

Access to the TAPI

The following requirements need to be satisfied in order to be able to use the etracker Targeting API:

• Desired targeting data must be recorded by etracker and transferred via events (using eCommerce API) or order parameters when calling the page. Orders, product performance events (‘Product viewed’, ‘Product placed in basket’ and/or ‘Product ordered’).
• The desired targeting data (attributes) are configured by etracker.

In order to call the interface, send a request to the URI of the Targeting API. You can call the interface in the frontend using JavaScript or in the backend via HTTPS. One query is enough per session (at the start of the session).

• The request for the interface must contain two parameters:
  et
  transfers the account key 2 which you can find in the etracker application under Settings → Setup/Tracking Code. Account Key 2 is Base64-encoded.
• _et_coid
  transfers the first-party cookie from the domain of the etracker customer.

Note:
You can also determine the _et_coid using JavaScript.
For testing purposes you can use the cookie ID _et_coid using Firebug from the website.

https://ws.etracker.com/api/v6/realtime/user?et=<account-key>&_et_coid=<CookieId>

Example:

https://ws.etracker.com/api/v6/realtime/user?et=YM9dM9&_et_coid=6bbece51587a6f7aac4989953149ca47

Response

Note:
When a visitor visits a website for the first time, for technical reasons it can take up to half an hour until the Targeting API provides a new user profile.

Response Structure

The interface provides user profile data in its response. The response is provided in JSON format and in table form with n columns for the attribute name (header) and n lines for the attribute values (data). The number of lines depends on the size of the user profile. The JSON response structure looks as follows:

{ “status”: “success”,”,”version“:2, “header”: [ ... ], “data”: [ ... ] }

Example with standard attributes:

{ “status”:“success”,“version”:2, “header”:[ “avg_order_value_seg”, “customer_type”, “device_type”, “device_type_detail”, “frequency_seg”, “is_newsletter_recipient”, “purchaser_type”, “time_since_last_order_seg”, “visit_count_seg”, “visitor_type” ], “data”:[ “STC_CC_ATTR_VALUE_AVG_ORDER_VALUE_SEG_01”, “STC_CC_ATTR_VALUE_CUSTOMER_TYPE_2”, “STR_CC_ATTR_VALUE_DEVICE_TYPE_DESKTOP”, “STR_CC_ATTR_VALUE_DEVICE_TYPE_DESKTOP”, “STC_CC_ATTR_VALUE_FREQUENCY_SEG_02”, “STC_CC_ATTR_VALUE_NEWSLETTER_2”, “STC_CC_ATTR_VALUE_PURCHASER_TYPE_1”, “STC_CC_ATTR_VALUE_TIME_SINCE_LAST_ORDER_SEG_01”, “STC_CC_ATTR_VALUE_VISIT_COUNT_SEG_04”, “STC_CC_ATTR_VALUE_VISITOR_TYPE_1” ] }

Response Attributes

The user profile data is provided via the configured attributes. etracker configures the attributes when purchasing the product according to the needs of the customer. At the moment, a maximum of ten attributes are permitted.

Note: There are currently ten standard attributes which are also evaluated in the Testing & Targeting Reports.

etracker provides the following attributes:

General Attributes

In order to evaluate the following attributes, the UserAgent needs to be transferred to the TAPI by the client request using the http header ‘User-Agent’. Example transfer of client user agent User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/52.0

Geo Attributes

The Targeting API (TAPI) offers the option to use the location of website visitor without the localisation API of the browser. Tracing back to the Internet provider is possible using a GeoIP resolver service. The TAPI provides information on the location of the visitor in regard to country, state and city. In order to evaluate the following attributes, the Client IP needs to be transferred to the TAPI by the client request using the http header ‘X-Forwarded-For’. Example transfer of Client IP X-Forwarded-For: 31.19.38.145

eCommerce Attributes

Note: In order to be able to use the eCommerce attributes, extended data collection must be integrated into the website to be measured. Only this way can events like, for example, ‘Product viewed’, ‘Product placed into basket’ or ‘Product ordered’ be transferred to etracker via the eCommerce API.

Profile information

Order information

Product information

Engagement & Lead Attributes

Note: In order to be able to use the following top 10 list for areas or pages, the parameters for page names and areas in the parameter block of the tracking code must be transferred.

Status Attributes

Error Messages

Display of Smart Messages

On GitHub, etracker provides a jQuery plugin for viewing smart messages. The jquery.smartmessage plugin can be used to show how Exit-Intent, Attention Grabber or Greeter Messages can be implemented. The plugin queries the Targeting API for user profiles and uses etracker Analytics for tracking.