Tag: e-commerce

From clicks to carts: Is retail media CPG’s e-commerce future?  

Posted on by sandra

How do CPG products fit into today’s ever-changing, multi-touchpoint digital landscape? According to an EyeSee Global TikTok study, if a video ad features a CPG product, the brand is 32% more likely to be remembered, and TikTok has a significant inspirational impact on its users.  

Despite this, buying CPG items online seems counterintuitive due to the high delivery costs. Retail media steps in to address this by aiming to enhance product awareness at the point of purchase. Yet, uncertainties persist regarding retail media’s scope, its impact on retailer-brand dynamics, and its long-term implications for omnichannel consumer behavior. 

With all of this in mind, the latest Deep Dive episode featured Zlatko Popovic, Global eCommerce Commercial Manager at Barilla, who shared his thoughts on retail media and revealed the secret to Mulino Bianco’s successful e-commerce and omni-channel campaign. Along with Zlatko, our Digital Research Specialist, Mila Milosavljevic, debunked some common misconceptions about CPG and e-commerce based on her rich market research experience. Listen to the full episode here. 

The Rise of Retail Media 

With e-commerce platforms experiencing unprecedented growth, retail media provides brands with the opportunity to showcase their products directly to consumers while they are in the purchasing mindset. As Zlatko Popovic explains, retail media is becoming increasingly important in marketing strategies due to its ability to consolidate various parts of the consumer journey into one platform. This consolidation simplifies marketing efforts for brands and marketers, making it easier to create brand awareness and generate sales in a single place. 

However, he also points out that some shortcomings of retail media include data governance issues and the evolving dynamics of brand-retailer relationships.  

To mitigate these challenges, organizations need to invest in understanding consumer behavior across various touchpoints, including social media, and strike a balance between traditional and digital marketing strategies. 

The Importance of Market Research 

According to a survey conducted by Deloitte, 63% of marketers cite data-driven marketing strategies as crucial for success in today’s competitive landscape, highlighting the importance of leveraging market research to inform decision-making (Deloitte). By identifying trends, anticipating consumer needs, and refining messaging based on market research findings, brands can ensure maximum impact across all channels. 

Mila Milosavljevic reminded us that when launching a product, manufacturers usually focus on in-store, designing eye-catching displays, shelf standouts, banners, endcaps, etc. in order to engage potential shoppers. But when it comes to e-commerce, product presentation is typically limited to fitting into the retailer’s current layout and relying on a generic description.

It is only natural to assume that similar testing tools and frameworks will be required when developing content and strategies for retail media, as we are essentially talking about an e-commerce retailer environment with even more space for product promotion.  

Furthermore, Zlatko reminded us that market research serves as a common ground and foundation for quality relationships between retailers and brands in terms of category management and presentation in digital environments.  

Case Study: Molino Bianco’s Gift Package Campaign 

  One notable example of successful omni-channel integration is the case of Molino Bianco’s gift package campaign. By analyzing product reviews and consumer feedback, Molino Bianco identified a demand for branded gadgets among its customers. Leveraging this insight, the company launched a series of gift packages tailored to different occasions, such as Christmas, Easter, and Valentine’s Day. This agile approach not only drove sales but also reinforced the brand’s presence across multiple touchpoints, from e-commerce platforms to traditional retail outlets.

“When that happened, everyone began to view the Mulino Bianco project not just as an e-commerce activity, but as a full marketing initiative. Consequently, various brand teams began incorporating similar initiatives into their annual plans, specifically targeting e-commerce to align with the marketplace proposition effectively.”, Zlatko Popovic, Global eCommerce Commercial Manager at Barilla 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the integration of retail media and market research is essential for achieving a strong product omni-channel presence. By harnessing the power of retail media platforms and leveraging insights from market research, brands can create personalized experiences that resonate with consumers across all touchpoints. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, mastering omni-channel integration is key to staying ahead of the curve and building lasting relationships with consumers. 

Eager to learn more? Here you can read all about Understand online pack shot behavioral testing.

    Five behavioral research postulates to keep in mind for a successful e-commerce strategy

    Posted on by sandra

    E-commerce is now an essential part of every consumer’s shopping habits. Online and offline shopping experiences are more intertwined than ever before, and as we discussed in the most recent Deep Dive episode with Morana Kristek (New Business Development Director at EyeSee) and Rebecca Lacerda (client-end e-commerce thought leader), a holistic approach to shopper behavior is critical to planning both online and offline shopping experiences.   

    To make some kind of system in such a branched shopper movement and try to be as predictive as possible, keep these five things in mind.  

    Map the market  

    In an average supermarket that contains around 50k SKUs, consumers spend only 5 seconds per aisle, while EyeSee’s data shows that online shoppers browse the product list page between 15 and 20 seconds searching for the right item. These numbers tell us that competition is fierce and attention spans are challengingly short; every product touch point counts, whether it is in the online or offline world.  So the first thing you want to do is map the market by asking these questions.

    Who is this consumer? What are the consumers looking for? What are the relevant players in the segment or industry I’m playing in? Who are my competitors? Which are the platforms that will complement the assortment that I’m offering or the service or experience that I’m offering through my platform? And then, how are those players positioned in terms of pricing, brand positioning, brand potential, et cetera?  You may not have all of the answers right away, but as you begin to research the market, answers will emerge one question at a time.   

    Never lose sight of the bigger picture  

    One thing that we should bear in mind is that when we are thinking about online and in-store consumers, we are talking about the same people. This whole separation that we do between online and offline as if they were completely separate worlds is not very accurate because nowadays what we have is a hybrid experience with a hybrid consumer who many times researches or searches for the product online already knowing that they will buy offline, or the other way around.

       
    When we accept an in-context holistic approach can we position our product in the e-commerce market correctly.  Only a few people end up clicking on the ad itself (2%), so do not expect your revenue to increase from ad conversion. The way the ads influence the shoppers is that they subconsciously drive interest in the advertised product, which then gets purchased on its primary position i.e. the list.  However, this does not work for all products and all categories equally. An uplift in brand purchase can be as high as 40% for different categories, but as low as non-existent for others. To find out more about it read our Leverage ads in online shopping: Amazon Fresh behavioral study.

    Be present at the key touchpoints  

    If we look only at the online consumer movement, we can see that it is far from linear. Passive tracking is the predictability tool you need. It helps to understand not only the consumer’s motion but the keywords of consumer language too.  It answers key questions

    • Which touchpoints are most frequently visited?   
    • What is the typical number of visits?  
    • Where do visitors come from?  
    • Where do they land on the retailer’s website?   

    Having these answers means you will be able to wisely direct communication, pick the right product placements, and make the ROI certain. There are four stages of passive tracking set up:  

    • Defining all the keywords relevant to the category of interest  
    • Programming the study and implementing all the relevant keywords   
    • Gaining respondents’ consent to pull their browsing history   
    • Pulling browsing history for the analysis, including any predefined keywords  

    It can be applied throughout 30, 60, or 90 days. Along with Eye Tracking, Surveys, and Path to Purchase, buying your product will be the final customer destination, no matter the road they take.  

    When a consumers are on your landing page, make sure not to lose them 

    Around 70% of e-comm shoppers abandon the cart without completing the purchase, and there are many reasons for that – maybe they just investigated online and will shop offline; maybe they need more time to decide; but it can also happen that the process of checking out is too complicated and not easy to understand, so by fixing it, you directly increase conversion rates. 

    Did you know that when shoppers search for a product 49% of them search category name, 17% of them search for category name plus pack type and only 12% of them search for category name plus brand name.  Test the path to purchase shoppers’ behavior.

    In EyeSee we track how a person navigates through the live page (so it’s a real behavior, or as close as it can be), and we also expose consumers to some relevant static pages, usually a Product Listing Page (PLP is similar to a shelf in a regular BM store, it’s just much more cluttered and pictures of products are smaller; imagine a PC or mobile screen with a list of hundreds of products that you scroll through) and Product Details Page, but it can be anything else, such as Search Result Page, Add to cart/Checkout process, A+ Premium content (or any Promo content), whatever we think might be relevant to investigate or have indications it might be a bottleneck. On static pages, we want to know where consumers’ attention goes, for how long, and how visible or engaging the products and website elements are. 

    When top to bottom isn’t an option, reverse it  

    Most commonly, managers choose a top-down approach: to start first with a strategy to identify who our online shoppers are, where they search for our product, and what the drivers are for choosing specific channels, then move to testing shopper behavior and the path to purchase on specific details, and then, in the third level, test tactical marketing assets like ads, packs, banners, standard pack versus hero image, reviews, and checkout. However, sometimes it might be a good idea to take a bottom-up approach. This is the case when you don’t have a firm digital strategy yet but, for example, want to get some quick wins. You want to showcase that digital testing makes sense and that you can have wins in terms of conversions, a smoother consumer journey, and a better consumer experience. So, for example, you can test the Regular Pack versus the hero image pack, and here, you can show your departments and your wider team that the hero image performs significantly better in terms of conversions, sales uplift, and brand uplift. This is an advantage to use to get more backup to do wider-range service and maybe even create a complete digital strategy.  

    Find out more about online advertising in the related blog about what makes a good social media test or case study about effective online pack shots.

      Impacting the final online basket: From all-powerful touchpoints to impulse purchases

      Posted on by EyeSee Research

      Co-written by Morana Kristek, Digital Insights Director, EyeSee

      As the pandemic online shopping habits started settling down, shoppers have slowly yet surely started going back to trusty old brick and mortar. In many ways, it has become a cheaper and more convenient shopping experience, especially now in light of the current recession when consumer wallets are being redefined. And on top of that, the return to the stores is once again allowing the consumer the delight of touching and seeing a product before completing the purchase. Yet, with the surge in gas prices, many people might find themselves at a crossroads – is it cheaper to drive to the store or have the products they need delivered?

      Regardless, what is sure is that e-commerce is not dying down – while the growth momentum slowed down compared to the beginning of the pandemic, online shopping is still on a steady rise. However, many factors are in play when it comes to the final basket size/content – be it the easiness of use of the digital channels, the shipping and payment options, individual product information, advertising, or pricing points. And on top of this ever-growing list, the average cart abandonment rate was at a staggering 70% even before inflation hit.

      Free delivery drives purchases now more than ever

      Various factors impact the final basket, but many of our behavioral e-commerce studies uncovered that one of the leading ones driving online consumer purchase decision-making is, by far, the price of delivery. While loyalty cards, special discounts and products in stock generally have some impact, free delivery is deemed the most vital driver across regions and categories. Even when looking at the elements of the product detail page, the shipping cost information consistently influenced shopper decisions.

      However, every online store, e-retailer and even web page themselves have unique qualities that determine the final cart – from delivery types, different services and subscriptions to forms of payment. In short, e-commerce is maturing and transforming and in order to be sure where the hurdles (and main drivers) are and to understand how to optimize them, it is crucial to test the entire scope of online path-to-purchase. Apart from uncovering the bottlenecks in the consumer journey, you can also learn how the check-out process itself affects the final outcome of the purchase.

      Digital moments of truth prompt spur-of-the-moment purchases

      Impulse buying is one of the hardest behaviors to encourage in the digital environment. Online shoppers either tend to opt for ‘buy again’ options or create shopping lists leaving little space to tap into impulse needs and without the instant self-gratification and the immediacy of the purchase, it can be difficult to nurture spur-of-the-moment decision-making – however, it is not impossible.

      Our Decision Tree exercises in the digital environment have shown that the (right) positioning on Product Listing Pages is one of them – and staying above the line, in the first two rows of the page, is your best bet to tap into that impulse urge.

      Another thing to consider is that if a shopper opts to act on a whim and buy something with no pre-planning, they’re much less to actually go through with the purchase if the buying process is hindered or anything but seamless. To help ease the experience further, utilize behavioral e-commerce testing to uncover the barriers your shoppers could be facing and understand how to streamline the online journey. Then you can think about mapping out the hidden opportunities that will encourage impulse decisions (such as, adding a ” Buy” or “Add to cart” button on the Product Listing Page instead of expecting shoppers to go to the product detail page).

      First aid behavioral research kit for online optimization

      To conclude, the online journey is getting more complex and consumers are becoming more demanding and whether you are looking to better the user experience, boost successful purchases, leverage impulse buying or diminish the percentage of consumers that drop out of the final cart – the insights you need lie beyond platform data and surveys.

      As consumer behavior continues to shift and become more and more unpredictable, it has become a necessity to test in real but controlled digital shopping environments and e-commerce website replicas. Then, equipped with a stellar combination of behavioral methods, the entire online path to purchase – together with its strong (and weak) suits – can be mapped out and advanced to meet the transforming online consumer needs.