Internet Retailer reports that a new Jupiter study on web analytics packages shows companies are figuring out that they can get the most efficient use out of the metrics packages by carefully balancing three variables: analytics staffing, the cost analytics package they purchase, and the pricing method they choose. Hiring people to exploit analytics learnings is one key to their efficient use, but the study found that those learnings attenuate after the first year, making annual license fees an increasingly inefficient pricing model relative to the incremental value companies get over time.

Jupiter found that among the companies spending from $10,000 to $50,000 in analytics, about one in five planned on switching packages, while among those spending more than $50,000, only about one in ten planned on a major switch.

The study encouraged analytics buyers to be tough on price negotiations, noting that there is exceptionally high competition in the industry currently, and analytics providers are having to cut large breaks in price to win accounts.