Online revenues are based on a very simple formula that applies to every e-shop, to every brand and to every Category. This formula is the following: Number of visits/ Traffic multiplied by the Conversion rate and the Average Spend per order.
Therefore, when Category managers or eCommerce managers are losing category-share all they need to do is to check out which of the above variables are having trouble and to deep dive further down to identify where the problem stands. But lets start with one by one:
Number of Visits or Traffic
1. High category & search share thanks to organic and paid search optimization
Traffic is directly correlated with the category & search share. The higher it is, the higher the category & search share, since 75% of people never scroll past the first page. This can be achieved either organically or paid. For organic search, Brands need to work as closely as possible with Retailers to secure that their products are listed in all the relevant Retailer categories, category paths and filters. Keyword optimization should be also a common strategy for both, aligning on product titles and descriptions and improving customer experience at the same time. According to statistics there is an 88% better CTR for products with titles rich in relevant keywords.
Brands Investing in paid search advertising within a retailer’s online store, secures placement on top results of the first page.
Brands should make it a mission to stay on first page results, since top 5 products on the first page of each category receive 70% of all product page views.
Brands can further invest in promotional banners that are in different placements of a website such as the homepage, the category page, the search results page, or the checkout. Building your brand’s corner (shop-in-a-shop) within an eshop is another alternative, increasing even more the visibility of your products & company.
2. Invest in marketing activations
There are numerous strategies for attracting customers and increasing traffic to an online store, ranging from social media to traditional advertising and everything in between. You can only discover the best strategy through trial and error, as this depends on your brand and your target audience. Marketing techniques used both on and off the website make up a comprehensive e-commerce marketing plan and according to studies 86% of senior-level marketers agree that it’s important to create a cohesive customer journey across all touchpoints and channels. These are some of the marketing channels that brands actually co-invest with retailers to bring in people:
- Direct traffic: Best thing to do for Brands is to sit down with the Retailer, and to divide direct traffic into segments, depending on the landing page, geography, device, or eCommerce sales, to analyze how direct traffic behaves once it arrives on the site. Make data-driven decisions and place your products where it matters the most.
- Email marketing: With the number of global e-mail users set to grow to 4.48 billion users in 2024 (Statista), it would be a mistake to leave it out of your omnichannel marketing strategy. Along with the Retailer use audience segmentation, adapt the emails’ copy accordingly and always make sure that templates are mobile friendly.
- Referrals: Many eTailers develop referral programs for online shoppers, giving them rewards like cash, coupons, discounts, free goods, gift cards in exchange for bringing in new clients. Consumers that come to an eshop through referrals are 115% more likely to convert than those that don’t. Brands therefore should plan along with the Retailer the program carefully, by setting common goals and defining what stands for success.
- Social media: With the number of global social media users expected to reach almost 3.43 billion in 2023. (Statista) and with more than half of all businesses (60%) planning to increase their budget in it (Hootsuite), brands that work closely with Retailers have a huge opportunity to nurture clients and keep them informed about their newest joint offerings and maintain an active social media following. Gathering feedback from social customers, utilizing user-generated content to show off products and increasing the customer lifetime value over time, are some of the best practices.
- Organic search (SEO): As explained above this is one of the most important channels of marketing, with 69% of marketers investing in SEO in 2021. Listing your products in the most viewed categories and being at the right place at the right time increases your chances of getting the shoppers buying consideration.
- Paid search: Use paid ads to target high-intent keywords. High-intent keywords are those your shoppers search most when looking for your products. They don’t just make your organic search better but also giving you insight on how your shoppers think of your products when considering your brand. Use them wisely and continuously optimise.
- Display advertising: Brands can combine narrative with retail display elements that stimulate a purchase, such as add-to-cart buttons and real-time pricing, tailored for each advertisement & particular e-shop, taking into consideration factors like availability, price change, and special offers. Ensure also that the display ad’s CTA placed by the Retailer is crystal clear and that it links to an easy-to-navigate, clear landing page. And as always Test and Repeat.
3. High brand share of voice
Track the impact of every type of promotional activation e.g., newsletters, social media, and on-site banners on your market share. A high Brand Share of Voice can lead to increased awareness which ultimately leads to an increase in sales, in overall market share, and in brand loyalty.
What are the different ways you can track your brand share of voice?
- Agree on a mutual retailer- brand marketing plan and make sure that pricing promotions are explicitely mentioned on Retailer activations
- Compare your Brand Share of Voice against competition and apply your findings on your marketing plan to gain competitive advantage
- Measure the effectiveness of your digital activation campaigns against your market share and basket penetration
Conversion Rate
1. Content compliance
As stated before, brands and Retailers should build and monitor a mutual marketing plan and content strategy should be part of this plan. Content published by Retailers on their eshop should be compliant with the copy and images shared by the Brand. The perfect product page exists and building it increases conversion rate and subsequently sales, while solidifies digital branding. As a matter of fact, enhanced content increases purchase intent by up to 20% and can boost conversions up to 10%. Essential elements of a perfect eshop product page are product titles and descriptions rich in keywords, additional product photos & videos, high quality hero image, competitive pricing, being always in stock and assure a 4+ star ratings for social proof.
2. Product availability
Track product availability to mitigate loss by highlighting out-of-stock items weekly and measure the impact on their market share. Identify products with persistent availability issues and Measure the market share uplift when your stock levels are high. Brands could lose up to 42% of sales when their stock rate drops from 90% to less than 30%. Therefore continuous Alignment between Retailers & Brands on supply chain is key for a successful eCommerce business.
3. Competitive pricing
Track Pricing for products across different pack sizes and variant options, stay competitive and increase your conversions, by taking advantage of past data to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of price promotions. Understand the different pricing, discounts and promotional strategies of your competitors, benchmark your promotions to adapt fast and build the desired price perceptions across different channels.
4. Ratings & Reviews
Build trust with product reviews since trust increases conversion. 35% of consumers begin their purchasing journey on a search engine, while more than 80% of consumers consult reviews when making a purchase. Additionally Google indexes product reviews, which means their algorithm reads product’s reviews and makes them searchable or visible on search, helping Brands to achieve a higher search share. Some ways to get more reviews are post-purchase emails, product sampling or call-to-action with QR code in shipments.
5. High quality images
Content is king and photos should portray that. 90% of online buyers say that photo quality is the most important factor in an online sale. Use therefore high-quality photos that are Mobile Ready and Make sure you have minimum 4 images per product.
Some popular photos are:
Mobile Ready Hero Image: A mobile-ready hero image condenses product information and gives four basic points that are easily legible: Who is the brand? What is the product? Which variety is it? How much is in the package? It’s especially effective for FMCG products.
Detail shots: Photos of a product from different angles help shoppers understand the specifics of an item while they flick through images.
Packshot: Packshots help shoppers visualize what the product is. Make sure the packshot is well-lit and shows natural colors so shoppers have realistic expectations.
Lifestyle Photos: These images allow people to make a connection between a product and the lifestyle they want to experience etc.
You could even consider using video. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a product video could very well be worth a thousand sales! Why are we saying that?
- Customers are 64-85% more likely to purchase after watching a video
- Videos can lead to up to 12% increase in conversions and 8% increase in revenue!
Average Spend Order
1. Recommended products
Cross-selling, in other words recommending complimentary products, is one of the most effective ways for Retailers or Brands to increase the average order spend, to maximize profits over the long run and to raise customer satisfaction. It is not random that Amazon attributes over 35% of its annual revenue to cross-selling initiatives and that is why a well though, well executed cross-selling strategy should be implemented.
2. Promo offers
Bundle opportunities is another way to increase your average order spend. Increased sales, pricing opacity, surplus inventory reduction, increased product awareness and enhanced customer loyalty are some of the benefits of a bundle strategy. As anticipated, the higher the discount a Retailer offers on product bundles, the more likely he will sell.
3. Checkout banners
Checkout banners is another tactic of reminding to the customer for the last time that your Brand is there and they are loosing value if they decide not to buy it. It could be a gift, a discount, or a multibrand banner for big Manufacturers, as another touchpoint for consumers to engage with your brand.
Synopsis
To make a long story short, Brands & Retailers should always keep in mind the 3 variables of the online Revenues formula: Traffic, Conversion Rate and Average Spend Order that should continuously review, optimise and adapt with real-time performance monitoring. Then repeat the process, getting better every time. These 3 variables fall into the 3 steps of the buyer’s journey, aiming to boost sales.
- Augment the discoverability of your products by increasing visibility & traffic
- Act on your growth drivers to convert visitors to clients during their purchase consideration phase
- Affect shopper purchase consideration and increase basket share
- Lastly, as it is a never ending cycle, optimise based on the shopper purchase behaviour and repeat, again & again.
For more, don’t hesitate to speak with one of our eCommerce Experts.
