The phrase "control the controllables" has gained popularity amid economic uncertainty. This mantra holds true for brands as they approach their cross-retailer eCommerce strategy.
With today’s new digitally influenced shoppers, brands must take control to optimize their presence throughout retailer-owned eCommerce touchpoints. Why? Because consumers have become reliant on retailer websites for confidence, social validation, and certainty.
In Profitero’s latest consumer research, we learned that 50% of consumers regularly consult a retailer’s website or app before shopping in-store, and 1 in 4 consumers regularly consult a retailer’s website or app while shopping in-store.
These behaviors are present across every category, not just high-ticket purchases.
Source: Profitero
When partnering with clients on their retail strategies, the number one question I’m asked is “where should we start?” I suggest first establishing your retailer-specific objectives and then understanding and prioritizing the different levers available to drive traffic and conversion for your brand.
A one-size-fits-all approach won't work. Capabilities, and the impact those capabilities have on conversion, vary between retailers and markets and change frequently as retailers scramble to launch new features and deliver better customer experiences.
In this example below, our Boost category insights demonstrate how sales drivers that move the needle at one retailer often differ from those that move it at another.
Source: Profitero
The need to focus on capabilities before making investments came to light recently while working with a large multinational CPG company. After seeing the success of the brand's customer testimonial videos on Amazon, the CEO wanted to prioritize developing more videos. Only after investing significant time and resources into content creation did they learn that customer testimonials were only available at a very limited number of retailers.
We know how challenging it is for our brand clients to monitor the ever-changing capabilities of retailer websites, so our team developed the Retailer Capability Matrix. This dynamic tool offers insight into current retailer capabilities — for leading retailers in the US and UK — across six core levers:
This matrix is frequently updated to reflect new retailer site changes across the major US & UK eCommerce players. We've incorporated some notable enhancements into this most recent version. First, we added all capabilities for Asda and Morrisons, meaning brands can now compare the Big Four UK grocers. The team also added a new capability – “Offers managed retail media services” under Discoverability – across both markets to see which retailers have the capacity to automate and implement customized retail media campaigns.
Access the updated Retailer Capability Matrix here.
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