How to optimize your e-commerce assets
In recent months, we witnessed profound changes in our habits and how we shop – many people are switching to online shopping, even in categories where it was previously neglected, such as groceries and household essentials. With the pandemic still active, many consumers are experiencing very different restrictions in different places across the world. This has presumably affected every aspect of daily life, and it most definitely affected some key shopping categories.
With ongoing changes, EyeSee’s digital experts have combined their expertise to help you make the most out of your e-commerce presence and answer crucial optimization questions:
- What are less obvious ways the search bar can make or break the purchase?
- Which parts of the PDP convert best on which devices?
- How can brands use their e-commerce insights when negotiating with retailers?
How did online shopping change?
Different age groups reported various changes – for example, throughout all study waves, the majority of the population (between 55% and 65%) in their late fifties and older didn’t recognize any changes in their online shopping behavior. In other words, significantly more people in these age categories – specifically those from 55-64 & 65 and older (55-64 & 65+) claimed no change occurred. However, among those whose behavior has changed in this age group, over half of them – 57% – claim they order products online more frequently than before, compared to 48%, which represents the total average for this claim across all waves and age groups.
What this tells us is that there are new adopters of online shopping, and with those that did try it, their behavior was affected dramatically by this new habit. In a way, those who are new to this might be realizing all the benefits it has both in a crisis like this and in ordinary life.
Overall, the majority of respondents claim that they will not change their behavior in the next month (41%) – this is the total for all 4 waves. However, among possible changes, more frequent online shopping (1/4) and ordering of non-perishable goods (1/5) take the lead. Bear in mind that these findings are on those who acknowledged existing changes and those who claimed they haven’t changed their shopping behavior so far. Below, we examine how different age groups pick a preferred online retailer.
Does the search bar make or break the purchase?
Following the consumer’s footsteps enables the optimization of every step of the online path-to-purchase. With as much as 50% (2/3 on mobile) of all tasks being executed via the search bar, finding the desired product this way is the most commonly used route. On the one hand, this can be great because the desired SKU can be found very quickly, but on the other, if not executed right, e.g. if the autosuggestion changes the input, or if the algorithm is not precise enough, it can make it seem as if there is no desired product in the store and might lead to switching retailers.
Studies that show you exactly which percentage of people used which route to solve the same task in different stores are precious because you can pinpoint exactly where in the path to purchase you are losing them.
How does exploration of small and big retailers vary?
In a previous wave of our E-commerce study, we found that people browse the PLP for a longer time, and scroll deeper than they did before the crisis. With more time on their hands, and on the lookout for the right bargain, brands have a bigger chance of being bought due to this longer browsing. Of course, SKU positioning is the one key factor that makes a difference between being seen (and bought) or not.
As far as the search bar goes, there are a few more things worth noticing. One of them is the predictive click, or suggested search query completions – this is also very important to optimize, and ensure that your product shows up. If you are not careful about the way the retailer lists or tags your products to appear here, even a slight difference in spelling or naming certain things among markets might be detrimental to your product showing up when it needs to.
For commonly bought items, respondents always look for the shortest route. These items are usually bought from the Search results page or the Product list page, without even opening the Product detail page. As soon as there is an opportunity to add the product to the cart, it will be used/ If your buyers are aware of you, it is wiser to invest in PLP positioning, hero images that stand out, or even PLP ads – things that can prompt shoppers, rather than only optimizing the PDP and thinking your work is done.
Which promos are worth optimizing?
The home page banners and promotions are quite effective at this – presuming they’re optimized and aligned with the need of the consumer. Banners work best if they communicate an offer, or a promotion with a clear benefit for the visitor, instead of some basic information – this fails to garner any interest. If the homepage is cluttered, and if people are overwhelmed with the content, they tend to zone out and not really register the visuals they are looking at. Moreover, PLP banners that promote a specific SKU can boost sales significantly if the SKU is found on the same PLP. These banners are not clicked on often, but they drive sales by reminding people of a product they maybe weren’t aware of at the beginning of their session.
How does browsing on mobile and desktop contrast?
It’s important to note that there is a variation in the navigation mindset between mobile and desktop. Usually, shopping from desktop means consumers sat there ready to shop, and they know what they want to find. Use the above the fold section of the PDP to present all the most relevant and most general information and include enough image thumbnails, as people love to see the product from more angles and in multiple settings. The product details should be very specific and concrete, and preferably presented in bullets, or a table, making it more straightforward and quicker to read – interests tends to drop if there is a huge block of text in the description on the PDP.
Meanwhile, considering that people access mobile more often during the day, with very low effort, and more casually – it is more commonly used more for exploration and browsing. Here, people will more often get to that Product detail page and all the way to the end of this page. This insight presents a great opportunity for brands: use mobile PDPs to tell a story, and build the case for why someone should choose your product.
How can brands use their e-commerce insights when negotiating with retailers?
If consumers have a lousy e-commerce search experience, they will give up on the retailer – so this is not only bad for the brand, it is also bad for the retailer since it means the overall shopping level decreases.
Navigation studies can show where people get lost and pull out of shopping because they can’t complete the task at hand, which is finding a specific SKU. Sometimes it happens due to the page categorization – the way products are organized, or the nomenclature. Based on these insights, brands can go to retailers and ask for a different product classification, especially if we show that it drives sales for the entire category, not just one brand.
Another negotiation asset is running performance tests on competitor brands and websites. If you can locate where their competitor website facilitates better results, you can go to retailer with these specific and concrete results and ask for a change in an area where their competitor outperforms them. This type of direct benchmarking is better to use in negotiations than a more general descriptive comparison. E-commerce tests are this way often beneficial for multiple parties, not just for the brand we are testing, but for their partner retailers – it is a joint effort for optimization.
Key takeaways
- Homepage banners should be clear and communicate promotions
- PLP banners drive sales if the advertised SKU is present on the page
- Invest in hero images and search optimization rather than in A+ content on the PDP
- Optimize mobile pages for browsing (focusing on the PDP) and desktop pages for functionality and visibility of the above the fold areas.
- Analyze more pages in the online path to purchase: go from the home page, category pages, and search results – all the way to checkout – some precious insights might be hiding in places outside of the product list and detail pages.
- Combine e-commerce studies with virtual shopping for an omnichannel effectiveness assessment.
- Investing in the optimization of your online performance is beneficial for your brand, partner retailers, category sales and last, but not least – to your customers.
If you’re interested in learning more, check out the full webinar session with even more e-commerce tips and findings.