registered users

Used in electronic commerce to describe the number of users that have signed up to a particular Web site. In an effort to relate the number of Web site users to the value of the company, electronic commerce has turned registered users into a valuation tool. By taking the value of the company and dividing by the number of registered users it is possible to arrive at a value for each registered user. This figure can then be used as a means of comparing one company against another, although, in practice, this is a flawed and crude valuation tool. The problem lies in the quality of information extracted from the user. In the best cases, demographic, psychographic, and technographic information is required in order to register. From this type of information companies can build up valuable databases of user profiles. However, with other sites, all that is required to become a registered user is a name and e-mail address.