Discoverability, Representation and Engagement the foundation of ecommerce success

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Discoverability, Representation
and Engagement: the foundation
of ecommerce success
A Brand View Whitepaper

2
Karen is one of Brand View’s leading
ecommerce consultants with a
background in market research,
FMCG retail & manufacturing, and
key account management – advising
on a broad range of issues, from
strategy through to implementation.
She has a highly collaborative and client
facing role covering the full product
adoption, deployment and best practice
lifecycle from establishing business
requirements, consulting on product
use and delivering actionable insights
to improve online performance and
increase sales revenue.
As a full time ecommerce consultant,
Karen has considerable technical and
commercial experience to help clients
maximise profits via retailers’ sites or
from their own site. Her international
client base includes Colgate,
Kimberly-Clark, Reckitt Benckiser,
Dyson and Amazon.
Karen’s deep industry expertise in
a number of key market segments
ensures that the advice provided to
clients is tailored to that particular
sector’s needs. From defining the initial
strategy to planning its development and
implementing its outcome, Karen delivers
end-to-end support and expertise to
help our clients maximise their
commercial potential.
About the Author
Karen Pike, Product Manager, Positioning

Discoverability, Representation and Engagement: the foundation of ecommerce success
3
Introduction..................................................4
Ecommerce shapes new ways
of working.....................................................................6
Discoverability..............................................8
Search Placement.......................................................9
Category Placement................................................12
Category shelf taxonomy................................................... 12
Product placement on the category shelf.........14
Why is first page placement key to
Discoverability?.........................................................15
How do I influence Discoverability?....................16
Effective SEO......................................................................... 16
Sponsored Keywords.......................................................... 16
Banner advertising.............................................................. 17
Quick wins – Discoverability..................................18
Representation...........................................19
Brand and Product Name Representation.......20
Brand name accuracy......................................................... 20
Product name accuracy..................................................... 21
Product name character length....................................... 22
Product information...............................................23
Product images........................................................24
Roundels................................................................................ 25
Descriptions..............................................................27
How can product Representation
be monitored?.....................................................................28
Quick wins – Representation................................29
Engagement................................................30
Reviews and ratings crucial for General
Merchandise brands...............................................31
Reviews and ratings authenticity..................................... 32
Reviews greatly affect product placement on
pure play retailers............................................................... 33
Big brands advocate importance of shopper
reviews.......................................................................34
Quick wins – Engagement.....................................34
Promo Location..........................................35
Location, location, location...................................35
Promotional mechanic key to winning
sales from ads..........................................................36
Quick wins – Promo Location...............................37
Brand View Score.......................................38
Easy comparison of your online
performance versus competitors........................39
Identify attributes for best
performing brands in a category.........................40
Understand why brands are performing
poorly online.............................................................41
Brand View can help you win online......42
Contents

4
The path to purchase for ecommerce shoppers is highly
fragmented. Whether a shopper begins their journey on a
computer, smartphone or tablet, there are numerous potential
disruptions that can prevent your product being placed in their
shopping cart.
Consumers expect to find all of the answers they are looking for
online and if you cannot provide them they will look elsewhere.
When shoppers are searching for products, chances are they are
not visiting one website alone.
On average, shoppers browse 2.7 retail sites before making an online
purchase and they are driven by more than price alone.
There are an array of channels in which potential customers seek to
find product information online, shifting a once linear path to purchase
into a fragmented journey.
There are numerous factors which can hamper shoppers.
Products not returning in search results, poor product reviews and
ratings, unclear product descriptions and out-of-date images all
lead to a loss of consideration and an eventual sale.
Increasing and improving a brand’s digital presence can enhance
the online shopper’s experience, reduce lost sales due to switching
or abandoned baskets and, most importantly, ensure shoppers
buy your brand rather than another.
The number of global online shoppers will grow 50% by 2018;
growing to 1.6 billion in 2018 from 1.1 billion in 2013, according to
the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
In some markets, in certain categories, online sales are ahead of
established bricks and mortar stores.
Changing the shoppers’ online experience can transform sales
and share. Suppliers can drive online share ahead or behind
their traditional bricks and mortar share by enhancing or ignoring
simple sales drivers.
Introduction

5
Discoverability
How shoppers find your product
Representation
How your products are described
e.g names/images
Engagement
How your products are being
received e.g reviews
Special Offers
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Fantastic deals on a wide range
of Small Appliances
Discoverability
If shoppers cannot find your products
easily and quickly, you have lost a sale.
There is a limited time window, often
just a few seconds, before a shopper
abandons their search and opts for a
competitor product.
Key considerations for Discoverability:
• Can shoppers find your products on
the digital shelf?
• Do you products return on the first
page of results when searched for by
category, or by keyword(s) search term?
Representation
Engagement
When shoppers find your product, accurate
and comprehensive product information
must be present to increase the sales
Once the shopper has found your product
and has all of the relevant product
information to inform their purchase, peer
reviews can be a highly influential deciding
factor. A low number of reviews or poor
ratings across the board can diminish
the chances of your product entering
the basket, particularly in Entertainment,
Appliances, Mobile and Technology sectors.
opportunity. If the product name poorly
represents your product or if the image is
inaccurate or missing, the chances of your
product entering the basket are reduced,
typically by 30 percent.
Key considerations for Representation:
• Is your brand name present and correct
in product listings?
• Is your product name represented
accurately and consistently across
retailers?
Key considerations for Engagement:
• Are shoppers engaging with your brand
online?
• Are certain products blighted with poor
reviews?
• How do your reviews and ratings compare
with competitors?
Promo Location
Even if the product is easily discoverable,
well represented and highly engaged with,
a well placed competitor promotion may
cause that sale to be lost. Banner advertising
and sponsored listings can increase
the visibility of your item dramatically.
Understanding competitor promotional
strategies, particularly promo location, can
be used to optimise your own promotional
strategies in parallel with the execution of
the hierarchy of ecommerce success.
There is a hierarchy of fundamental factors
which provide a useful framework for
ecommerce success:

6
Ecommerce shapes new ways of working
Before working through the hierarchy of factors critical to
achieving ecommerce success it is worth considering the
process of implementing ecommerce strategy.
Success online requires the careful management of
interdepartmental relations and the acceptance that traditional
departmental responsibilities will become blurred in order to
implement ecommerce strategy.
In our experience, implementing ecommerce strategy is
not without its challenges and often teams do not work
together harmoniously – each team has their own goals,
which sometimes must be compromised to achieve overall
ecommerce success.
Typically, we see that the Trade Marketing team are responsible
for working with the retailers and policing their content to
ensure compliance of product names, descriptions and images.
The Trade Marketing team must then work closely with the
Digital team to ensure that any compromises to product
compliance are resolved.
The Marketing Team are generally responsible for ensuring that
the product content in content databases, such as Brandbank
or Salsify, is on message and the Brand team ensures content
adheres to brand guidelines. For example, the Marketing and
Brand Team would be jointly responsible for ensuring that
the latest Mach 5 Turbo Sensitive Proglide Power is correctly
represented in the product title. Simply including the word
“razor” should be a key objective for the ecommerce team.
The Marketing Team at Sonos, or Apple, would be concerned
with ensuring that their products are synonymous with
a category in their own right – they would not wish to be
presented as a wireless speaker or MP3 player. Their objectives
and messaging would be designed to make SONOS as
synonymous with a wireless speaker, as Hoover is to vacuum
cleaners, and Moët to Champagne.
However, this Marketing strategy may be damaging to the
Discoverability of products – shoppers often search by
category not brand. In this instance the Marketing team may
need to compromise with the Ecommerce Team to allow
category names to be included in product titles, so that they
are more visible in shopper searches. If shoppers cannot find
Brand
Team
Marketing
Team
Digital
Team
Trade
Team
items they cannot buy
them and the Ecommerce
Teams miss their targets!
At a more global level, there
are a myriad of priorities
to manage in investing
resource, allocating funds
and tracking ecommerce
performance through time.
A common sense
KPI-led approach applies to
ecommerce management:
• You can’t manage what
you don’t measure
• You should prioritise
based on expected impact; you can’t do it all (employ the Pareto
principle with regards to your brand portfolio?)
• You must benchmark to set performance targets
Global dashboarding examining online performance and trends,
versus benchmarks and targets – by brand or by territory – can
be instrumental in supporting global to national priorities.

7
Global Reviews Dashboard for AB InBev
Key Learnings
Optimising ecommerce strategy is key to growing and
protecting your sales and market share
You can’t manage what you don’t measure
Discoverability, Representation and Engagement are the
basic contributory factors to ecommerce success
Benchmark competitors when setting ecommerce targets
Let data and insight guide your business planning

In our experience, Discoverability is
the most critical element for retailers
and brands to consider when managing
product positioning online.
Simply put, if a shopper cannot find your
product, they will not buy it.
Ensuring that your product is easily
discoverable when shoppers search
retailers’ websites is crucial in delivering
online sales.
Understanding how shoppers actually
search for products online is key to
achieving product Discoverability.
It’s not just about keywords. In retail
search, shoppers follow varied paths
by leveraging product category
based navigation, favourites baskets
and keywords searches, sometimes
in combination.
In FMCG, many shoppers start their
online grocery shop using the favourites
or previous orders tool. For suppliers,
a place on shoppers’ favourites lists
significantly increases the chances of
getting into online baskets regularly.
In the UK, Tesco command 44 percent
of all FMCG sales online. The importance
of the favourites basket in FMCG retail is
highlighted by the fact that 53 percent of
products placed in the shopper’s basket
on the Tesco website have been selected
from the favourites list.
Despite the frequent use of the favourites
list by FMCG shoppers, it is important to
consider that, without being discoverable
in the first place, products would never
make it on to the favourites list. Products
must return for keyword search terms
and also be included on the relevant
category shelves for shoppers to initially
discover them, before adding them to
their favourites list.
Discoverability
How do shoppers find your product?
Generally, favourites is a redundant
concept in General Merchandise and
will rarely influence the purchase of
products such as appliances, technology
or entertainment items.
Less frequently purchased FMCG products,
as well as General Merchandise products
rely on keyword search and category
shelf search much more heavily than the
respective 31 and 11 percent cited by
dunnhumby. In fact, IGD data shows the
number of shoppers using the search
function to find products for their online
baskets (62 percent) is now greater than
those using their favourites or previous
orders (60 percent). This is the first time the
search function has started to pull ahead as
the dominant shopper behaviour since IGD
began tracking the data in 2013.
Retailers and manufacturers are already
aware that a shopper’s path to purchase
can be vastly different depending on the
category and individual product they are
purchasing and this needs to be considered
when optimising product placement.
In both FMCG and General Merchandise,
shoppers will only spend a limited
amount of time trying to locate an item
online. If a shopper cannot find your
product within this timeframe, they will
probably purchase a competitor product
and a sale will be lost.
In terms of Discoverability, it’s important
to consider two key elements:
• Search Placement
• Category Placement
Search placement, or keyword search
placement, is critical in establishing the
successful placement of your product
online. Ensuring that your product returns
for all feasible search terms, including
both product specific and category
specific keywords will improve product
Discoverability.
Category placement, or category shelf
placement, has the same importance as
product availability in store. If your product
isn’t on the shelf people simply can’t buy it.
Arguably, both search and category
placement are interlinked and the
optimisation of both search functions
in parallel is fundamental in influencing
product Discoverability.
FAVOURITE
S
SEARCH
D
EPARTMEN
T
SP
ECIALOFFE
RS
53%
31%
11%
6%
Percentage of items put in basket as a result of:
Source: dunnhumby
8

9
Search Placement
Anyone that has ever shopped online will
know that sometimes keyword searches
can produce surprising, often unrelated
search results.
In March 2015, a shopper searching for
“acne face pads” on the Asda website was
presented with a random array of results
on the first page including Chicken Pad Thai,
Brillo Multi-Use Soap Pads and Anti-Bacterial
Wash Pads. Cotton wool pads were the
first product to return, but the first relevant
product to the “acne face pads” term was
a Clearasil product in 19th position. When
using the same search term in Sainsbury’s
the Clearasil product did not return at all.
The limited visibility of the Clearasil products
and other acne treatments for these search
terms meant that the products were not
easily discoverable to the shopper and
therefore sales are likely to have been lost.
Optimising product placement for
assumed shopper keyword searches will
not suffice. Understanding the nuances of
shopper behaviour and how they search
for your products is vital to improving
Discoverability for keyword search terms.
For example, when looking to purchase
Air Freshener and searching by category
keyword, the majority of Asda shoppers
will search using the term “Air Freshner”
– incorrectly spelt and missing the
penultimate ‘e’. In contrast, the majority
of Tesco shoppers will search using the
term “Air Freshener” – correctly spelt.
How products are placed against these
two search terms within these retailers
varies dramatically.
Asda has accounted for the discrepancy
in spelling, and no matter which term the
shopper searches for it will return the same
number of products in the same search
ranking order.
In contrast, when a shopper
searches for “Air Freshner” on
Tesco’s website, a different
selection of products is returned
compared to those returned when
“Freshener” is spelt correctly. Reckitt
Benckiser is the beneficiary of this
spelling mistake on the Tesco site as
seven more of its Air Wick products
are returned on the first page when
the incorrect spelling is used. This is
to the detriment of SC Johnson and
Tesco’s own label products which
lose all first page placements.
Search results for “Acne face pads” Asda website,
March 2015
Air Freshener
Number of products on the first
page of search results:
Procter & Gamble 20
Reckitt Benckiser plc 6
SC Johnson 5
Spotless Punch Ltd 1
Air Freshener
Procter & Gamble 8
SC Johnson 4
Air Freshner
Procter & Gamble 20
SC Johnson 5
Air Freshner
Procter & Gamble 15
SC Johnson 0
First page search results for “Air
Freshener” and “Air Freshner” in Asda and
Tesco, April 2015

10
Similarly, the popular ice cream brand
“Haagen Daz” is often misspelt. When
searching for “Hagen Daz” in Asda, Daz
washing powders returned first, with the
first “Haagen Daz” product returning in
15th
position on the first page.
Search for ‘Hagen Daz’, Asda website, March 2015
In August 2015, shoppers looking for a
Timex Ironman watch on Target’s website
may have struggled to locate the product.
If shoppers searched for just “Ironman”,
the majority of search results were related
Marvel Iron Man products. However,
the search terms “timex iron man” and
“iron man watch” also yielded no Timex
Ironman product listings and instead
returned Marvel Iron man watches and
memorabilia. To locate the watch, the
shopper had to use the exact phrasing
“Timex Ironman” or “Ironman watch”. It is
important for brands to work with
retailers to optimise the placement of
their products for all feasible and likely
keyword searches.
Search for “timex ironman” and
“timex iron man” on Target,
August 2015

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Category Keywords
Depending on the item, most shoppers
search using generic category keywords,
as opposed to brand or product specific
keywords, e.g. “bread” not “Hovis”.
Therefore, it can be an easy win to
include the category keyword, such
as “toilet tissue”, in the product name
and description.
In August 2015 when searching for
“champagne” in Sainsbury’s, Moët products
did not return highly in the results because
the product listings did not contain
“champagne” in the product name. This was
damaging to the Discoverability of Moët
champagne – in fact products from outside
of the “champagne” category, such as
sparkling wines, were ranked higher in the
search results.
In order to resolve this type of issue
Moët could approach the retailer from
a category captaincy perspective and
highlight that relevant products are not
returning on the category shelf. In this
instance, the listing of sparkling wines
before “champagne” could potentially
devalue the category, and it is in the
retailers’ and category managers’ interests
to resolve this issue. If the retailer then
optimised the category listings to include
only champagne, this would obviously
benefit Moët.
Conversely, some high-end General
Merchandise brands, such as Apple and
Sonos, deliberately omit the category
name from the product name. These
brands want shoppers to search for their
products as a category in their own right,
with shoppers searching for “iPads” as
opposed to “tablets”.
However, this can consequently affect
search placement and Discoverability.
For example, if a shopper searched for
“speaker” in John Lewis in September
2015, the first Sonos product returned
was on the third page of results.
How do retailers’ prioritise search
placement?
Typically, the standard default search
type is based on relevance. This varies
by retailer, however the majority have a
similar base algorithm, keywords having to
be present in:
• the product name
• the category name
• in hidden product tags
• in the description/features section of the
product page
Brand View Compliance, part of Brand View
Positioning, allows the presence of keywords
to be policed. Missing terms are flagged to
the supplier who can then remedy the issue
with the retailer.
Sales are also a significant factor that affect
search results. Again this varies by website;
some sites use in-store sales rather than
online sales to influence product position
and the period of sales taken into account
can vary from weeks to months.
‘The doom loop’ effect is also an important
consideration. If a product returns low on
search rankings due to low online sales, the
low ranking and poor Discoverability will
in turn cause shoppers to purchase other
items and low online sales will continue
in an endless cycle. Breaking this cycle is
difficult but can be overcome by speaking
directly with the retailer’s ecommerce
team and potentially considering some
online advertising to increase visibility and
awareness. If in-store sales are healthy and
the product is popular with shoppers it
should begin to rank more highly. Retailers
in the majority of cases do have a means of
overriding these search results.
It’s also important to note that bricks and
mortar stores differ from pure play retailers
in the way they handle online search results.
The former are more reliant on product
name and description, whereas the latter
place more focus and importance on
reviews and ratings.
A significant number of retailers are
modifying their algorithms to be much
more machine-learning orientated,
placing items higher in search result
ranking based on what previous
shoppers have searched for and then
placed in their basket for that search.
Example of Sonos listing without “speaker”
in product name, Very website,
September 2015

12
On the Ocado website shoppers had to
select the main category, ‘Newsagent
and Stationery’ on the homepage and
then navigate to the ‘Cigarettes & Tobacco’
sub-category, adding an extra step and
click in the path to purchase compared
to Morrisons.
Tesco and Waitrose listed cigarettes in
the ‘Household’ category – this may have
hindered shoppers that attempted a
category search, as arguably many would
not think of cigarettes as a ‘household’ item.
Similarly, shoppers on the Asda site may
have been frustrated in their search for
cigarettes as the retailer listed cigarettes in
the ‘Tobacconist’ sub-category within the
‘Entertainment and Outdoor’ category.
Search results for “lawnmowers” on the B&Q and Homebase websites, May 2015
Category Placement
Not only do shoppers search by category
keywords, but also manually using retailer’s
category shelf navigation and site taxonomy.
Optimising product placement for category
shelves is as important as optimising
product placement for keyword search and
should be considered an equal priority.
In order to maximise Discoverability,
it is important that products return on
all feasible category shelves and in most
cases this means that a product should be
listed across multiple category shelves.
Category shelf taxonomy
All retailers’ site taxonomy differs and in
turn the placement of products on retailers’
category shelves will differ.
When reviewing the placement of cigarette
products in UK retailers, the path to
purchase differed considerably in each
online store. For example, some stores
offered the shopper a much more direct
route than others.
Shoppers in Morrisons were able to navigate
straight to the ‘Cigarettes and Tobacco’
category shelf from the homepage – the
most straightforward path to purchase of all
the retailers.

13
The organisation of the category shelf itself
is also important and can dramatically
impact product placement. For example,
some retailers opt to sort their shelves
alphabetically, while others opt to sort by
‘favourites’ (which are often sponsored
listings) first. Alphabetical organisation of
the category shelf, as present in UK retailer
Tesco, means brands, such as Benson &
Hedges and Berkeley are listed first and
therefore benefit from increased visibility.
Conversely, brands such as Richmond
are hindered. In this instance, brands
could work with retailers to improve the
organisation of category shelves or consider
sponsoring listings to increase visibility.
Admittedly, the majority of smokers are
loyal to a particular brand and as such
it is likely they will search for their brand
directly, however alphabetical organisation
is not limited to cigarettes. For example, US
pharmacy chain CVS alphabetize its Allergy
& Sinus Medicine shelf. In this instance
a shopper is typically driven by the need
to cure an ailment and any brand that
offers the desired remedy will suffice. Advil
is therefore at a distinct advantage if a
shopper is looking for congestion relief.
Asda website, August 2015
CVS website, September 2015

with a 50 percent share of the first page.
Innocent may well be less concerned with
which flavour ranked highest, but instead
with the percentage share of the first page
of the category shelf. Although important
in FMCG, category shelf placement is of
greater concern to General Merchandise
Product placement on the
category shelf
As well as understanding how the taxonomy
of retailers’ category shelves affect product
placement, it is also important to consider
exactly which shelves your products should
be listed on.
For example, Tropicana Kids Apple Juice
drink 4 x 200ml was listed on three shelves
in Tesco in September 2015. However, it
was not listed on the Chilled Apple Juice
shelf, which meant shoppers navigating to
this shelf would not find this product and
would likely purchase a competitor product.
As well as understanding which shelves your
products are placed on, it is also important
to know where your products rank from a
shelf perspective.
In order to understand which retailers or
shelves could be optimised to improve
product Discoverability, brands should also
monitor their share of each online shelf in
relation to competitors and across retailers.
Looking at the Smoothies shelf in Tesco
in September 2015, Innocent dominated
brands. When purchasing an expensive,
one-off product, such as a TV, a shopper
is likely to search by category rather than
brand. Therefore the percentage share of
a category shelf and product search
ranking is highly important in gaining
product visibility.
Brand View Category Placement
Brand View Category Placement
14

15
In September 2015, Samsung had the
largest proportion of the first page of the
Televisions category shelf in Currys. Six
manufacturers were shown on the first
page, however, Samsung had eight listings
which equated to 40 percent, compared to
its nearest competitors JVC and Panasonic
Viera which had 15 percent of the first page.
Why is first page placement
key to Discoverability?
In order to be found an item needs
to return in search results, however
ensuring its inclusion on the first page of
search results is equally as important to
product Discoverability.
Of the 75 million shoppers who
conducted at least one search on
Amazon in September 2014, only 30
percent ever clicked beyond the first
page of their search results.
When shoppers search on Amazon,
35 percent will click on products listed first in
any search (either their first search or
follow-on), compared to just 17 percent
for items listed second.
People do not click through multiple pages
of search results; many people won’t even
scroll down. If your item is not visible on
the part of the page they can see on their
screen – above the scroll – they may simply
purchase another item. A Nielsen Norman Group study found that
website visitors spend 80 percent of their
time looking at information above the page
scroll and, although they do scroll, they
allocate only 20 percent of their attention
below the scroll.
A Caltech neuroscience study found that
at rapid decision speeds (when in a rush,
distracted or disengaged), visual impact
influences choices more than consumer
preferences do. This means that when
online shoppers are in a hurry, they will
think less about their personal preferences
Television Category Shelf, Currys website, September 2015
The first page of
results represents 91
percent of all product
listing pages viewed
by shoppers
(CPC Strategy.com)
and instead base choices on what they
notice first. This bias gets stronger the more
distracted or disengaged a shopper is and
is particularly strong when they don’t have a
strong preference among different options.
If the visual impact and presence of
a product can override consumer
preferences, especially in a time-sensitive
and distracting environment like online
shopping, then strategic changes to
search results and a website’s design can
significantly impact a shoppers’ attention
and behaviour.

16
How do I influence
Discoverability?
Effective SEO
Start by making sure your product is
accurately optimised on a retailer’s site:
• Does the product name include your
brand name?
• Have words been shortened to fit the
product name character limit which would
affect search?
• Are key attributes or search terms missing
in the tags or description of your product?
• Is the search on the retailer’s site
working properly?
Brand View has seen many examples
where search results have been tailored
and manipulated on a retailer’s site and
returned unusual results. Depending on
the retailer and who manages the website
for those products (in some cases this is
the ecommerce team and in other retailers
it’s the buyers) they can often change the
search position of products on the page.
• Does your product return on the first
page? Changing the keywords on product
name/description can help influence this.
• Is your product available to purchase or
out-of-stock?
• Is your product presented in multiple
locations on the retailer’s website?
• Are all products (both yours and
competitors) correctly returning when you
type in the product category?
In our experience adopting a category
captaincy position on this and working with
retailers on the category as a whole will yield
greater results.
Sponsored Keywords
An alternative, but far more expensive,
method of ensuring your product is
placed for certain key search terms, is
through paid or sponsored keywords.
On certain retailers’ sites a manufacturer
can pay to get one of the top links on
the page (much like Google AdWords).
In the case of Sainsbury’s, the results
say “Sainsbury’s Recommends” or “Why
Not Try”. Similarly, Walmart suggests
complementary products with its “Buy
Together & Save” scheme.
Remember, a shopper is further down
the path to purchase on a retail site than
they are when searching via Google or
similar. They’re a lot closer to making
their final decision, so it’s extremely
important for suppliers to own and
dominate the keyword searches that lead
to their brand and/or relevant category.
Brand View track and monitor sponsored
links to enable clients to understand
which competitor has paid for certain
search terms and equally to check retailer
adherence and compliance when a client
has themselves paid for a sponsored link.
Advertisements related to a shopper’s
recent product search query or content
on the page typically rank first or second
on search results pages on a retailer’s
site. Products will be targeted to
shoppers searching for similar or related
items. Brands also engage in cross-
promotion, forcing sponsored products
to return when a shopper is searching for
“Buy Together & Save” scheme on Walmart website, September 2015
a product in a different category,
e.g. bacon can appear when searching
for bread.
Manufacturers can also use sponsored
keyword searches so that they appear
when competitor search terms are used.
A good example of this is Pepsi products
returning for Coca-Cola and Coke search
terms on the Sainsbury’s website:
Sainsbury’s website, September 2015

17
Banner advertising
Another strategy brands can pursue is to
pay for banner advertising; banner ads
are typically linked with a search term,
which results in items being advertised
next to the products.
Some brands aggressively buy banner
advertising space for competitor search
terms. For example, in March 2015,
Highland Spring adverts were featured
on search results pages when shoppers
searched for Evian on the Ocado website.
Tracking
sponsored
search results
over time can
be extremely
valuable in
understanding
competitors’
online spend and
share of voice
‘Quaker’ sponsored listings following a search for “porridge” on Walmart, September 2015
Crest Sensi-Strip banner ad following a search for “toothpaste” on Walgreens, May 2015
Following a search for “cell phone” shoppers encounter an ad for the Samsung Galaxy S6 range on Best Buy, May 2015
Buying banner adverts for more generic
search terms, e.g. “water”, is far more
common. Yet, due to the cost involved, this
is often reserved for the bigger players.
Brands that target shoppers who are further
along the path to purchase on retailers’ sites,
can dominate the category.
As well as banner ads, retailers
such as Walmart also have ‘sponsored
listings’ which appear on product pages,
as well as category pages, to further
boost brand visibility.

18
Quick wins – Discoverability
Work with retailers to ensure first page
placement for keyword and category shelf
search (ideally within first 10 products).
Make sure products return on all relevant
category shelf pages
Optimise your keywords to reflect how your
shoppers search
Invest in clear product descriptions to make it
easy for shoppers to find your products
Translate any commercial language into
shopper-friendly wording
One of the main reasons shoppers choose to
buy online is convenience and speed. Getting the
fundamentals right so that your products are easy to
find is a quick way to drive online growth:

19
Retailers adopt different approaches when
it comes to populating product content
across their sites. For example, Asda, part
of Walmart, use an automated approach,
that relies heavily on the accuracy of product
content databases, resulting in products
being frequently poorly represented
across the site.
In September 2015, a listing of the
‘Asda Chicken and Mushroom Lasagna’
highlighted the shortcomings of relying upon
an automated system. Every element of the
listing was incorrectly represented – not only
did this limit the product’s Discoverability,
but also provided the shopper with
inaccurate product information which could
have led to shopper dissatisfaction, a loss of
trust and in turn fewer sales.
Firstly, there is a disconnect between
the product name and the product image;
there are no mushrooms in the product, but
the name suggests otherwise.
“Lasagne” was spelt “Lasagna” which affected
the products Discoverability – the product
did not return for the search term “Lasagne”.
The product description was also
limited to “No artificial colors, flavours or
hydrogenated fat. Produced in the UK,
Chicken from Thailand. packed in the UK”,
when in fact it could have read “A rich tasty
Lasagne – a hint of Rome on your plate!!”.
Poorly populated and inaccurate product
names and descriptions are not uncommon
on the Asda website. In September 2015,
19 percent of chilled ready meal
descriptions began with the phrase ‘No
artificial colors, flavours or hydrogenated fat’.
Once a shopper has discovered your
product, they need to be immediately
presented with accurate, complete
product information which will inform
the purchase of the product.
Just as there is an overall hierarchy for
improving ecommerce performance,
there is also a hierarchy which can be
used to understand how to improve
product Representation online:
• name (brand and product name)
• images and videos
• product description
How a product is described online is the
second biggest influence on a shopper’s
choice of item. Some 91 percent of online
shoppers think it’s ‘important’ or ‘very
important’ for retailers to offer in-depth
product information online, and accurate
product content increases sales by 30
percent (Econsultancy).
Despite its importance, manufacturers
struggle to control and manage how their
products are described on a retailer’s
website. Inaccurate product information,
out of date images, poor grammar, spelling
mistakes and numerous other errors are
obstacles that interrupt, and, at worse,
terminate, a shopper’s path to purchase.
Standardisation is still a work in progress,
with retailers sometimes providing
inconsistent information about the same
brand and similar products online. That lack
of standardisation can damage a retailer’s
ecommerce efforts. When a shopper has a
hard time finding a product in a bricks and
mortar store, it can breed frustration and
result in a lost sale. That frustration
can also manifest itself online, when
websites show multiple results for similar
products, all with completely different
names and descriptions.
Representation
Incorrect product content, Asda website, September 2015
Missing full product description

20
74 percent of shoppers
notice the quality of
spelling or grammar on
a company’s website
(Global Lingo)
Brand and Product Name
Representation
There are several elements to be considered
when optimising a product name. A strong
product name does not only need to include
the actual product name, but also the brand
name, and ideally the category identifier,
as well as key product information, such as
pack size or flavour.
Inconsistent brand naming, Wilko website, September 2015
Brand name accuracy
It may seem like an obvious starting
point, but the brand name should be
spelt correctly in the product listing. For
numerous reasons, from human error
to odd abbreviations, many brands are
inaccurately represented online.
In September 2015, Energizer products were
poorly represented across the Wilko website.
Among all Energizer products on Wilko’s
site, three products were spelt incorrectly.
In each instance the brand name was
referenced in a completely different way,
“Energiser”, “Ener” and “Ennergizer”. This is
not only damaging to Discoverability – if a
shopper was to search for “Energizer” it is
unlikely that these products would return –
but also damaging to brand integrity.
Walmart failed to include either “Disney” or
“Pixar” in the product names for multiple
Disney licensed Johnson & Johnson
band-aid listings on its website in September
2015. Walmart listed the products as
‘Band-Aid Brand Cars Adhesive Bandages,
20Ct’ compared to the preferred product
name ‘Band Aid Disney Pixar Cars Adhesive
Bandages 20ea’. The omission of “Disney”
and “Pixar” called into question the
authenticity of the product, potentially
confused shoppers and ultimately may have
resulted in lost sales.
Omission of brand name from product
title, Walmart website, September 2015

21
Brand View investigated
the compliance of brand
names of the ten top selling
luxury fragrance brands
across six UK retailers.
The compliance score
was calculated according
to the accuracy of the
brand name in the
product description on
retailers’ websites.
Results showed that Dolce
& Gabbana compliance
was much lower than its
competitors, predominantly
due to the replacement
of the ampersand with
“and” and a lack of spaces
in the brand name.
Inaccurate adherence to
the brand identity is damaging to the brand
overall and adversely affects a product’s
Discoverability in shoppers’ searches.
Product name accuracy
It is not only brand names which are
inconsistently represented online
– product names are frequently
inaccurately represented across
retailer websites. In order to increase
Discoverability the product listing
should contain the product name
referenced as a shopper would search for
the product. This means that the product
name should contain the actual product
name, plus any key category search terms
that the shopper may search for.
In September 2015, Nestlé Gluten Free
Honey Cornflakes were inconsistently
named across several retailers – each
retailer omitted key product information
in the product name. For example, Tesco’s
listing was missing the terms “cereal”
and “cornflakes” in the product name,
which meant that the product was not
discoverable for these key search terms.
Nestlé Gluten Free Honey Cornflakes inconsistently named on Tesco, Waitrose and
Morrisons websites, March 2015
Dolce & Gabbana was the most inaccurately represented fragrance brand online, January 2015

22
In fact, when a shopper searched for
“cereal” or “cereals” the product was
listed in 233 place, on page 12.
The poor product naming and
Representation greatly affected the
product’s Discoverability.
Morrisons omitted the volume of the
product and Waitrose split “corn” and
“flakes”, whilst also missing the brand
name “Nestlé”.
As mentioned previously, including
category keyword search terms in
a product name greatly influences
where a product returns. Including
shopper vocabulary in product names
can also greatly enhance the product
placement for keyword search terms. For
example, Heineken 650ml in Waitrose
lacked a product description, and the
only information in the product name
was “Heineken”. As such, if a shopper
searched for “lager” the product was not
returned and if a shopper searched for
“beer” it only returned on page five of
results. A comprehensive product name
including the category keyword, “beer”
or “lager” would drastically improve the
placement of this product.
The automated approach that Asda use to
generate the Product Information cannot
always translate character encoding onto
the site. In this example, the accent has
been converted to “??” Once a brand has
decided on the correct product name
convention, it must ensure the retailer’s
online platform can support it.
Character encoding not being honored on the Asda website, September 2015
Product name character length
When optimising product names to include
compliant product and brand information it
is important to consider retailers’ character
limits often differ dramatically.
Many of the major grocery retailers
worldwide use product names that are
often too long to fit on either their shelf
page or product page descriptions. This
may cause confusion for shoppers, as vital
information can be omitted or rendered
incomprehensible. Character limits and
abbreviation protocol that the retailers’
websites dictate are often to blame.
The Walkers Sunbites Sun Ripened Sweet
Chilli Crisps listing was affected by the
character limit in Tesco. The product name
was too long to fit on the retailer’s shelf
page, whereas Sainsbury’s showed the full
name. Sainsbury’s also included the category
name ‘crisps’ in the product name which
positively impacted the Discoverability of
this product in the Crisp category.Nestlé Gluten Free Honey Cornflakes – Brand
View Compliance – Tesco, September 2015

23
Not only does the protocol differ between
retailers, there is also a lack of consistency
from individual retailers.
For example, on the Tesco site “Yeo Valley”
was sometimes abbreviated to “Y/ Valley”
and “Peaches” to “Pchs”. However, there
were instances of both “Yeo Valley” and
“Y/Valley” on the same shelf page.
The inclusion of product features in the
product name for General Merchandise
brands is crucial in quickly communicating
this information to shoppers. Retailer
character limits can often hinder this
communication of key product information.
For example, in September 2015, a shopper
searching the Headphones category shelf in
Tesco and Sainsbury’s websites, September 2015
Inconsistent product abbreviations on Tesco site, March 2015
Walmart was presented
with limited information
in the product listing.
The character limit
was so short that the
actual product name
was often cut short –
seemingly the only full
information Walmart
provided on this page
was the brand name and
product image.
Product information
According to research from Shop Direct,
shoppers often cannot find the product
they’re searching for and would buy much
Headphones Category Shelf, Walmart, September 2015
more if they had access to detailed, correct
and consistent product data. As such,
including key product information, such as
pack size or product flavour could improve
the likelihood of a sale as shoppers are
presented with all the information they need
to make an informed choice.
For example, in August 2015, Colgate
Palmolive may have been negatively affected
by incomplete product information for
a product listed on cvs.com. The retailer
failed to include the pack size in the product
name, unlike competitor retailer Walgreens
which listed the product as ‘Colgate
Sensitive Plus Whitening Toothpaste
Twin Pack’. Without the clear display
of the pack size in the product listing,

24
consumers were not readily alerted to
the fact that this was better value for
money compared to a single pack and
also could not easily assess against
comparable products.
Additional studies into consumer
experience and buying behaviour also
highlight how poor product data impacts
a shopper’s willingness to purchase.
Wrong, inconsistent or missing product
data can lead to shoppers not being able
to compare products side by side and
not being able to get full search results
if looking for a product with a specific
feature. The negative impact could
include reduced sales, increased returns
and a general lack of trust in the brand.
Product images
Imagine a shopper is browsing an online
store and they find a product they’d really
like to buy, at least they think so. However,
they can’t see the product properly. The
images are small, maybe a bit blurry and
there’s just one picture of each product.
Even worse, the image appears to be wrong.
CVS website, August 2015
In April 2015, if a shopper was considering
purchasing the Rosetta Stone Version 4
Spanish, Levels 1-2 software from Walmart
they may have hesitated when confronted
with an image of the Rosetta Stone Version
4 Russian, Levels 1, 2 & 3 software.
Consistency of product imagery across
all channels is key in establishing and
maintaining brand integrity and in turn
building shopper trust. When Hills Petfood
updated their Prescription
Diet products’ labelling,
some retailers did not
replicate the changes
online; this was potentially
confusing for shoppers,
who may not have known
if this was the same
product and may have led
them to shop elsewhere.
Inaccurate product image on Walmart, April 2015
8.6 percent of all
Tesco listings had no
product image, whereas
Morrisons, Ocado and
Waitrose had none
missing
(15 September 2015)
Hills Petfood Prescription Diet Products, left to right:
non-compliant vs compliant product image, August 2015,
Brand View Compliance

25
Inaccurate and inconsistent product
images do not convince a shopper to
purchase a product. There are three main
reasons for this; they aren’t sure whether
they’ve found the right product, they
can’t be certain how the product actually
looks; and they may also be thinking that
a store with misleading pictures cannot
be trusted. For example, the product
image for a 500ml bottle of Coca-Cola
on the Chinese retail site JD.com has the
reflection of the person taking the photo.
The product image is correct but looks
unprofessional and does not position
JD.com as a quality retailer.
As Lauren Freedman, President of the
The E-tailing Group, said during the
Internet Retail Conference Exhibition in
Product image for a 500ml bottle of Coca-Cola on JD.com, March 2015, Brand View Compliance
2012 (IRCE) “product information should
start with strong imagery as part of the
shopping experience.”
An ecommerce website with accurate
descriptions of their products and services
along with high-quality images stands the
best chance of completing online sales.
Inaccurate product descriptions, or images
that do not match the product the customer
receives, could lead to returns and severely
lessen the chance of return business from
that customer.
Roundels
In the UK, it is becoming increasingly
common for FMCG brands to display
roundels with their product images. The
roundels are designed to graphically
communicate key product information
to the shopper, appealing to the visual
shoppers who perhaps may not be inclined
to read the full product description.
It is becoming commonplace for grocery
retailers to highlight product shelf life. In
the fresh food and bakery categories
across Tesco’s website, the majority of
products now include roundels which
highlight how long they will be fit for
consumption once purchased.
However, as with many product content
issues across the ecommerce channels,
there is little standardisation. Roundels
are inconsistently used across brands
and categories, which means that rather
than aid the shopper they may actually
confuse the shopper.

26
Tesco and Asda websites 8 May 2015
Tesco suggest a usage period of
“2+ weeks” for Cathedral City Grated Mature
Cheddar whereas Asda suggest it will be
suitable for “1+ month”. Not only does this
mean that shoppers are potentially being
presented with inaccurate and inconsistent
information, but also prompts the question,
how do retailers decide upon the dates
stated on their roundels?
The majority of retailers have image
inconsistencies within categories and across
brands – the addition of roundels seemingly
creates further inconsistency. In September
2015, product roundels were inconsistently
used in the dishwasher category in Ocado.
Of the three Finish products listed, one of
the product images was side facing without
a roundel, while the other two listings were
front facing with pack size roundels.
When in the minority, products missing a
roundel stand out. It looks like information is
missing, even though the pack size is clearly
stated in the product description. Would
the missing roundel deter shoppers from
purchasing this specific product?
In an attempt to combat the inconsistent
use of roundels on product imagery, some
manufacturers have started to incorporate
the roundel as part of the image itself. For
example, rather than the usual 3D product
pack image, Unilever has started to digitize
its product content and use a flat 2D image
which includes a product roundel. This
approach means that the roundel is used
consistently across all the products, is in
the same position and displays the same
information, in this case the pack size of the
Dove Beauty bar packs.
Finish dishwasher tablets with inconsistent use of Roundels, Ocado website, September 2015

27
Dove 2D product images with Roundels, Sainsbury’s website, September 2015
However, in order to include the roundel
in a standardised format, Unilever has
sacrificed using an actual product image.
Many online shoppers identify products
visually, associating the product with
the physical pack they are accustomed
to purchasing in-store. If purchased,
the packaging would not resemble the
2D image displayed online and could
potentially cause confusion.
Descriptions
It is important to include a product
description to outline the key features
and components of a product. Having
a clear, comprehensive and easy to
understand product description is vital,
especially for electronic goods and more
expensive purchases.
In the General Merchandise marketplace,
the product description is a key component
in influencing a shopper’s decision. Although
full product descriptions are sometimes
lengthy, it is important for manufacturers
to ensure that retailers include the full
description in their listings. Shoppers may
be searching for a specific phrase or feature
in a product description, and if it is not
present then a sale may be lost.
For example, on Currys’ website, an
extensive description is provided for a CDA
Wine Cooler. At first glance the description
looks fairly comprehensive, however
it’s missing key features of the product
including the fact it is ‘double-glazed’ and
has a ‘reversible door’. The omission of this
information from the product description
may lead to a loss of shopper consideration
and lost sale to a competitor product which
has exactly the same features, but contains
a more comprehensive product description.
Currys’ website, September 2015
In the FMCG market, the addition of
complete product descriptions is often
neglected. On 15 September 2015, more
than 20 percent of product listings in Asda,
Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose had no
product descriptions. Asda had the greatest
percentage missing with 30.2 percent.

Although product descriptions are not as
influential in shopper decision making in
the FMCG market, manufacturers should
ensure they are present and updated. A full
product description containing keywords will
influence the higher placement of a product
for the specific keyword search term, and
more complete product listings often rank
higher in a category shelf search.
How can product
Representation be monitored?
In the Health and Beauty and Grocery
industries product data is often delivered
to retailers by data content providers
such as Brandbank or Salsify. This
content is shared with each of the
main retailers; ensuring that content
is correct is a crucial starting point in
establishing whether your product is
Data correct, 15 September 2015
Retailer
Percentage of range
missing product
descriptions
30.2
26.1
24.1
21.9
4.3
3.0
being described
correctly and
uniformly across
the market.
It is important
to monitor the
content held
by Brandbank,
Salsify or any
other third party
brand content
provider in parallel
to online product
descriptions.
It is common
for mistakes to
automatically
feed through to
retailers’ websites.
For example, a
brand content
error meant that
a Ferrero product
was incorrectly described as “crispy water”
rather than “crispy wafer” across Tesco,
Sainsbury’s and Asda websites.
Other third party content providers may
be responsible for digitising your pack
– monitoring the quality and accuracy
of your pack content and labelling is
important. Is the description still relevant
and comprehensible without the supporting
packaging/pack imagery?
Manufacturers must also be aware of the
character limits retailers place on product
names. For example, if a retailer can only
display 42 characters and your product
name exceeds that number then the retailer
will either abbreviate some words or leave
some out altogether.
Brands also need to understand how
retailers update their product content.
In our experience some retailers simply
copy the product description from the
new item form, however the form details
may have been scoped and produced long
before online product names and naming
conventions were a consideration.
Some retailers use the images provided by
third party content providers and rewrite
product descriptions to ensure it meets
their preferred language and style, and is
SEO compliant in terms of their websites.
It is therefore important for manufacturers
to check all relevant keywords and phrases
are included in these product descriptions.
Kleenex Balsam + Menthol Tissues are inaccurately referred to as “Hanks” on Tesco’s
website, May 2015
Ensuring your
Brandbank or Salsify
content is correct is a
crucial starting point in
establishing whether
your product is being
described correctly
28

29
Quick wins – Representation
Police brand name, product name and key
product information
Monitor your product content databases in
conjunction with retailer websites
Ensure product name is compliant to retailers
character limits
Work with retailers to include full product
descriptions on all listings
Provide clear, consistent, and correct
product imagery

30
Some 61 percent of
customers read online
reviews before making
a purchase decision
(E-consultancy).
In the simplest terms, in the online
marketplace, more reviews means
more orders.
Over half of all Millennials trust the opinions
of strangers online over those of friends and
family, the same group of people that will
have more spending power than any other
generation come 2017.
For some, engaging with user-generated
content online, such as reviews and ratings,
before making a purchase is just part
of considering any product that they
might purchase.
In the absence of physical touch and feel,
online shoppers turn to product reviews
and ratings for advice and reassurance on
their choices.
Product reviews from other customers
impact sales and conversions. All the
more reason for brands and retailers to
pay attention to their products and quality
of services.
No matter the industry, review volume
shows a positive correlation with the
number of orders – even at very high
volume levels. One review equates to a ten
percent lift in sales; 50 reviews a 30 percent
lift; 100 reviews a 37 percent lift; 150 reviews
a 41 percent lift; and 200 reviews a 44
percent lift (Bazaarvoice).
Interestingly, early volume growth has the
highest impact on conversion rates.
Engagement
Both positive and negative reviews contain
insights for improving products:
• One to three star reviews typically reveal a
product’s shortcomings for improvement
• Three to four star reviews offer the most
suggestions for new products or features
• Reviews highlighting flaws and
suggestions are 2.5 times more likely to
receive helpfulness votes than without.
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Orderlift
Reviews per product
1 review
10% lift
50 reviews
30% lift
100 reviews
37% lift
150 reviews
41% lift
200 reviews
44% lift
Early volume growth
has the highest impact
on conversion
You cannot please 100 percent of your
customers 100 percent of the time. That
isn’t an excuse to not aspire to complete
customer satisfaction, but in reality, it will
likely never happen.
Last year, Sainsbury’s Chicken & Bacon
Pasta Bake 430g suffered from numerous
negative reviews complaining about an
assumed change in the recipe.
Sainsbury’s website, October 2014
Source: Bazaarvoice

31
Sainsbury’s was able to quickly identify
and address the issue, using the
negative feedback as an opportunity
to demonstrate its commitment to
customer service.
Reviews and ratings crucial for
General Merchandise brands
Although reviews and ratings do influence
FMCG shoppers’ decision making,
they are particularly important for
General Merchandise brands. Shoppers
purchasing high-value, one-off purchases
Sainsbury’s website, December 2014
• Poor representation of the
product online – product received
is not as expected
• Product changes – new
ingredients or features may
change reviews and ratings
• Inequity between the price and
perceived value
• Specific design faults or quality
• Delivery issues – timeliness or
packaging problems
Common reasons
behind a poor review:
such as TVs, sofas and fridges will spend
much longer evaluating the product,
and reviews and ratings can play a
very important part in their decision
making process.
It is common sense that a shopper who
considers reviews and ratings before
purchasing a product will likely choose a
product which is well reviewed and highly
rated, over a product with few reviews or
negative ratings.
However, reviews and ratings are more
important than simple sales boosters.
Careful evaluation of reviews and ratings
can be used by brands to determine which
product attributes are popular and, where
necessary, can inform NPD. This information
can also be used by retailers to identify
which product attributes are popular with
their shoppers and can influence future
product range selection. For example,
in John Lewis in March 2015, TVs with
integrated DVD players were far less well
reviewed compared to those without.
Keeping track of reviews and ratings across
retailers enables brands to identify any
anomalies or potentially faulty batches of
products. For example, a 60 inch Sharp
Smart 3D TV suffered from negative
reviews in John Lewis in 2014 – the review
documented a technical fault with the TV.
Currys also stocked this model; it was well
reviewed, with an average star rating of
nearly 4.5 stars (93 percent).
The lowest review recorded was 8/10, with
no technical faults reported. This information
supports the possibility that John Lewis may
have stocked a faulty batch – keeping track of
online reviews and ratings can help retailers
identify problems such as this.
Average review percentage of Televisions, John Lewis, March 2015

32
Reviews and ratings authenticity
An important issue surrounding reviews
and ratings is authenticity; shoppers must
be confident that the opinions they read are
real. It’s seldom the case that any product is
universally lauded or scorned, meaning any
site showing unanimous positive or negative
reviews is likely to breed scepticism.
It is becoming increasingly common
for brands to use review platforms.
The use of review platforms does not
only boost the number of reviews per
product, but also can improve shopper
trust, as platforms such as Reevoo are
independently managed and impartial.
It’s also important to recognise that all
reviews are valuable: a positive review
tells a company where it’s working well,
while a negative one brings insight
into how to improve. However, some
shoppers are prone to leaving irreverent
reviews which may arguably be ignored
such as the Review of Sharp TV on the
John Lewis website in October 2014
which has since been removed.
Shopper review, John Lewis website, May 2014
Reviews and ratings for Dolce Gusto Melody III, Curry’s website, September 2015,
verified by Reevoo
Review of Sharp TV, John Lewis website,
October 2014
Brand View Reviews and Ratings, March 2015

33
Trustworthy content is the key to unlocking
shopper confidence, safeguarding
authenticity should be the highest priority
for any business collecting product
reviews. Likewise, ensuring transparency
is also important – where at all possible
content from sources with potential
conflicts of interest, such as if an
incentive was offered, should
be highlighted.
Reviews greatly affect product
placement on pure play retailers
Although shopper reviews and ratings
do affect product Discoverability in
bricks-and-clicks retailers, they are
particularly influential in determining
product placement in pure play retailers.
Chocolate manufacturer, Thorntons,
harnessed the power of reviews to
greatly improve its product placement
on Amazon.
When it initially began to trade on
Amazon, Thorntons products were
blighted with poor reviews associated
with previous resellers of the
Thornton’s resellers
trade on Amazon and
sell old packaged,
out of date products
Consumer leaves
negative reviews
linked to EAN of
the product
Thorntons trade
with Amazon –
bad reviews aﬀect
product sales
Thorntons send
products to Amazon
Vine to boost reviews &
increase review score
confectionery products who had been
selling out of date items. Thorntons
listings were associated with the poor
reviews from previous resellers due
to the shared product EANs. The poor
reviews badly affected the placement of
the products and in turn product sales
were much lower than expected.
To combat this, Thorntons sent products
to Amazon Vine – an internal service of
Amazon.com launched in 2007 that allows
manufacturers to receive reviews for their
products on Amazon. Companies pay a fee
to Amazon and provide products for review.
The products are then passed to Amazon
reviewers who are then required to publish
a review.
In a short time positive shopper reviews
and ratings were recorded for Thorntons
products. The positive review scores
influenced higher placement in search
results, improving Discoverability, and
in turn increasing trust in the brand and
increasing sales.
Trustworthy
content is key
to unlocking
shopper
confidence,
safeguarding
authenticity
should be
the highest
priority

34
Promotional tweet from @SuperSavvyMeUK, June 2015
Big brands advocate
importance of shopper reviews
Procter and Gamble is just one of the big
brands advocating the importance of online
product reviews.
Throughout the summer of 2015,
P&G’s consumer-focused website,
supersavvyme.co.uk, was advertising its
‘Summer Blockbuster Reviews‘ scheme,
offering shoppers the opportunity to win
£100 of Asda vouchers by simply reviewing
products from its extensive range of
brands which includes Flash, Daz and
Herbal Essences.
P&G own many of the leading brands
readily available in the UK across the
beauty, healthcare, home categories and
more. The scheme was evidence that P&G,
established for over 175 years, understand
the importance of online reviews and the
part they play in boosting product visibility
and brand reputation online.
Quick wins – Engagement
Monitor a number of product reviews and ratings across
all retailers
Identify any poor product reviews and take action
Understand how product reviews affect your product
placement
Understand how NPD has affected shopper perception and
take action where required
Use review platforms such as Amazon Vine to boost product
placement on Pure Play retailers

35
Promotions are an essential
consideration when optimising
online sales.
Discoverability, Representation and
Engagement are fundamental to winning
online and ecommerce success, however
increasing visibility with carefully considered
promotions is another way to drive brand
visibility and encourage product awareness.
The online shopper has a more restricted
view of products than the in-store
shopper, and as such the visibility of
promotions is even more important.
Retailers often prioritise the display
of promoted products. Some have
dedicated site pages specifically for
promotions, often aligned to seasonal
offers, such as ‘Halloween Deals’ or
‘Festive Treats’.
Promotional locations, such as banner
ads or mid-page units (MPUs), mean that
promoted products are often more visible
to shoppers than those that are not, as
discussed in the ‘Banner Ads’ section of the
Discoverability section.
Increased visibility of promotions does
however come at a price – banner ads last
only a few weeks and, depending on the
retailer, cost upwards of tens of thousands
of dollars. However, when considered with
the fact that 47 percent of brand sales in
the UK were made on promotion last year
(Nielsen), promotions are undeniably a key
tool in boosting sales.
Understanding promotional strategies in
relation to competitors is important to aid
joint business planning and negotiations
between manufacturers and retailers.
Building a clear picture of the levels of
promotion taking place in the marketplace
enables effective promotional planning.
Promo Location
In-store shopping vs online shopping experience, ‘Fruit Juice’ category shelf, Tesco website,
March 2015
Location, location, location
Tracking the location of promotions online
is vital.
With such an array of promotional
opportunities available, it can be a
minefield to decide where best to promote
your products for maximum exposure
and return. A carbonate drinks
manufacturer witnessed a greater uplift in
sales from banner ads on the checkout page
versus the delivery slot selection page.
Monitoring your competitors’ activity can
provide useful information. Where are your
competitors promoting on retailer websites:
the special offers page, the homepage, a
seasonal promotions page, at the checkout,
or via a banner ad on a shelf page?
Tracking competitor promotion locations
not only informs where you may consider
advertising, but also allows brands to
estimate how much competitors may be
spending on their online promotions across
the retailers.
It’s also important to monitor which
promotional mechanics are most well
received in which location. Do the buy-one-
get-one-free offers on a banner advert
convert more sales than a half price offer?
Does this differ depending on the product
category advertised?
Not only does tracking promotion
location enable manufacturers to monitor
competitor activity, but it also allows for the
monitoring of agreed promotional activity
with retailers.
Bosch Banner Ad, John Lewis website, September 2015

36
For example, if a manufacturer has agreed
to run a banner ad campaign on a specific
retailer site for a specific period, it will benefit
from using promotion tracking analytics to
monitor that the terms of the advertising
deal are adhered to.
They will also benefit from monitoring
where products return not only on specific
promoted banners, but also on event-based
promotional banners produced by the
retailer themselves, such as ‘Drinks Festival’
or ’Baby and Child’.
These are all considerations that can be
informed by analytics and sales data and
used to create the optimal promotional
strategy to win online.
Measuring promotions can be used to
build a picture of the ‘Share of Voice’, to
understand the impact and return of yours
and competitors promotional spending.
For example, Britvic (Robinsons and J2O) had
the highest ‘share of voice’ across multiple
locations, most notably ‘Special Offers’ in
Tesco for two weeks in September 2015.
Juice Drink and Smoothies in Tesco for two weeks ending 15 September 2015
Coca-Cola (Innocent) had a lower share of
voice and had promotions located on
the Homepage.
The focus of promotions on the
homepage must be appraised, when
the fact that most shoppers would go
straight to the Search bar or relevant
category shelf, and spend little time on
the homepage is taken into account.
Promotional mechanic key to
winning sales from ads
With the high associated investment
brands are required to make in order
to run promotions online, it is important
that promos are not only in the optimal
place for visibility, but that the promotional
mechanic used is preferable to the majority
of shoppers.
Brands should extensively monitor the
success of campaigns to understand which
mechanic provides maximum results.
Once the promotional mechanic, the
location and terms of the promotion have
been agreed, brands should carefully
police the retailer’s implementation and
compliance of the agreed execution.
In Asda, in September 2015, Coca-Cola ran
a promotional banner to capture shoppers’
attention ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
The banner ad displayed the promotional
text ‘2 for £3’, or £1.85 each, which equated
to a minimal 64p discount which was
unlikely to capture shopper interest.
However, the promotional text on the
banner ad was incorrect. The actual
promotion, displayed correctly on the Offers
page, was a substantial discount of £1.64,
with the products promoted at ‘2 for £2’.
The incorrect information in the banner
displayed by the retailer undermined the
brand’s promotional strategy and no doubt
impacted upon the effectiveness of the
campaign. As suppliers want to generate
additional coverage across retailers’ sites, it
is important to ensure all elements of the
promotion are being promoted accurately
as agreed.
Brands should also beware that retailers
will often promote competitor products

37
Coca-Cola promotional banner, Asda website, September 2015
from their paid for banner ads. For example,
on the Tesco website, Heineken paid for a
banner on the seasonal Rugby World Cup
event page. However, when a shopper
clicked through to the shelf page from this
advert, only one Heineken product was
listed above the page scroll, and competitor
brands John Smiths, Fosters, Budweiser and
Beck’s were the second, third, fourth and
fifth products listed.
Another obvious point, which some brands
surprisingly fail to consider, is stock and
logistics – there has to be adequate stock to
meet demand during promotional period or
shoppers will be frustrated and annoyed.
When given the considerable demands
made by retailers to promote products
across their sites monitoring whether a
promotion is in the right location, at the
right time, with the best message and
appropriate discount will greatly increase
the chances of success and ROI.
Quick wins – Promo Location
Understand your “Share of Voice”, versus competitors, by
page location
Benchmark promotional campaigns against key KPIs
and competitors
Ensure retailers running promos as agreed
Measure ROI of promotional campaigns

38
‘Brand View Score – The definitive online
score trusted by brands and retailers’
The Brand View Score (BVS) provides
the only industry benchmark trusted by
brands and retailers to compare online
performance versus competitors across
multiple retailers and regions.
The BVS is an overall star rating, out of five,
calculated using key performance indicators
(KPIs), discussed throughout, which critically
affect a brand’s online presence.
The KPIs assessed fall under the
fundamental concepts in the hierarchy
of ecommerce success Discoverability,
Representation and Engagement.
BVS is based on a weighted formula to
account for the relative importance of each
element – Discoverability, Representation
and Engagement. Therefore, it is possible
for a brand to achieve an overall 5 star BVS
without scoring 5 stars for each component.
Brand View Score
3.3
• Can shoppers find your products
on the digital shelf?
• Do your products return on
the first page of results when
searched for by category, or by
keyword, such as beer or lager?
Discoverability*
• Is your brand name present and
correct in product descriptions?
• Is key product information,
descriptions and images
accurately listed on retailer
websites?
Representation
*In the majority of cases, the first page of search
results for a generic search term, e.g. “bread”, or a
category search, does not return only one brand.
Based on research and industry expertise, we’ve
created a threshold for the Discoverability score. A
30 percent or above share of the first page of results
equates to a 5 star score.
The BVS provides a benchmark of a brand’s
online performance at a single point in
time, so can be used to review changes in
online performance over time and against
competitors. For example, if the Brand View
Score highlights that a brand suffers from
low Discoverability then it can look to
address this issue with retailers.
Brands can opt to use the Brand View Score
in conjunction with their own benchmarks.
For example, a brand may wish to set
a higher benchmark to achieve for
Discoverability in the US where it has more
products compared to other regions.
BVS can be used to identify online
performance at a category level, identifying
best and worst performers within a
category, or at a brand level to identify which
brands are best presented online.
• Are shoppers engaging with your
brand online?
• How do your product reviews and
ratings represent your brand?
Engagement

39
Brands Discoverability Representation Engagement
1
1.4
0.9
0.4
0.5
4.4
5
3.7
2.8
5
3.9
1.9
3.5
3.8
2
AB InBev lager brands September 2015
Brands Discoverability Representation Engagement
0.7
0.3
0.6
0.8
0.6
4
4.4
4.2
4.3
4.3
3.6
3.4
2.8
2.9
2.3
Rival UK Lager brands September 2015
In September 2015, Brand View reviewed
the online performance of AB InBev brands
compared to key competitors in the Lager
category in the UK. Scoring each brand
across the key elements of the hierarchy of
ecommerce success, brands can identify
particular failings and success.
In this case, AB InBev can see that of the ten
lager brands, Beck’s is poorly represented.
This is due to the fact that the brand name
Beck’s was inaccurately represented across
Easy comparison of your online performance versus competitors
UK retailers, with the brand name incorrectly
spelt without the apostrophe – “Becks” – in
many listings. The poor Representation
of the brand name in turn affected
Discoverability, which is reflected in the low
score for this element.

40
0.7 1.0 4.03.3 4.2 4.3
Discoverability
Engagement
Representation
2.9
Identify attributes for best
performing brands in a
category
The BVS can be used to identify the best
performing brands within a category.
An extract from the Cigarette category
review in UK retailers in August 2015
highlights why Benson & Hedges was
the best performing brand with a BVS
of 2.9 stars out of 5.
Benson & Hedges had the highest score for
Discoverability – it achieved a full 5 stars.
The nearest competitor was Marlboro with
3 stars. The 5 star score for Discoverability
was heavily influenced by the alphabetical
organisation of Sainsbury’s and Tesco
cigarette category shelves – Benson &
Hedges were the first listed brand on the
first page of results in both retailers.
In contrast, Morrisons listed cigarettes by
‘favourites first’. However, it is unclear how
Morrisons identified favourites as 19 of
the SKUs on the first page of results were
new listings. The ‘favourites first’ order of
the category shelf meant that not a single
Benson & Hedges product returned on the
first page of the results.
When shoppers used the search term
‘cigarettes’ no Benson & Hedges products
returned on the first page of results in
Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
Asda is the only retailer which allowed
shoppers to search for the term ‘fags’;
Benson & Hedges benefitted from this
optimisation of search terms with a 9
percent share of the first page of ‘fags’
results. The five other retailers presumed
‘fags’ was an error and returned products
such as ‘figs’ and ‘fats’.
Benson & Hedges scored the third lowest
for Representation with 3.2 stars. Tesco
referenced the brand name incorrectly as
‘Benson and Hedges’ instead of ‘Benson
& Hedges’ and the listings in Morrisons
and Waitrose were all missing products
descriptions – a problem which affected the
majority brands.
A lack of product reviews category-wide also
affected Benson & Hedges and it scored just
1 star for Engagement. The brand had just
one review which was on the Ocado website
and the product was rated a full 5 stars.

41
N/A 1.8 3.32.0 3.6
Discoverability
Engagement
Representation
2.7
N/A 1.8 3.32.0 3.6
Discoverability
Engagement
Representation
2.7
Understand why brands are
performing poorly online
Similarly, the Brand View Score can also
help brands to identify the factors which
are affecting poor online performance. An
extract from the Lipstick Category review in
five US retailers in September 2015 details
why Honeybee Gardens was the worst
performing brand.
Honeybee Gardens’ products were
only listed on CVS, Drugstore, Target
and Walgreens.
Honeybee Gardens and IMAN attained the
joint lowest score for Discoverability, with
0.1 stars. No Honeybee Gardens products
returned on the first page of results for the
search terms “lipstick” or “lip color” in CVS,
Drugstore or Walgreens.
Two Honeybee Gardens products returned
on the first page of results for the search
term “lipstick” on the Target website. No
Honeybee Gardens lipsticks returned for the
search term “lip color”.
Two of its products also featured on the first
page of the lipstick category shelf on the
Target website. However, its products did
not return on the first page of the category
shelf in any other retailer analysed.
Honeybee Gardens attained the lowest
score for Engagement with just 2.3 stars,
behind next lowest scoring brand Covergirl,
which scored 3.2 stars. Honeybee Gardens
products had no shopper reviews on the
CVS and Target sites.
However, the brand’s products which
were reviewed in Drugstore and Walgreens
were well perceived by shoppers, with an
average review percentage of 90.7 percent.
Honeybee Gardens was the only brand
to score a perfect 5 out of 5 stars for
Representation. All of its listings contained
an accurate brand name and all had
product images and descriptions
N/A 1.8 3.32.0 3.6
Discoverability
Engagement
Representation
2.7

42
Only Brand View enable you to monitor
the complete internet retailing landscape.
Brand View products provide actionable
insights on online product performance,
enabling our clients to make effective
decisions. A better understanding of the
importance of online product positioning,
price and promotions equips retailers and
manufacturers with the data needed to
deliver the correct product information in
the right place and at the right time during
the shopping process.
Brand View alerts and analytics can be
accessed from any PC, tablet or mobile
device. This allows you to view details as
soon as competitors launch a new product,
move on price or begin a promotion,
wherever you are in the world.
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REVIEWS &
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Brand View can help you win online

See Price, Promotion and your products’
online Positioning all in one place
Turquoise cordless
kettle
Small home appliances > Kettles
Base price: £33.00
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11th June
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Save a third (33%)
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Monitor shopper reviews and ratings,
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42-inch LED TV FullHD
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Product image
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About Brand View
Contact the Brand View
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evaluation
Telephone: 0844 357 9970
Email: hello@brandview.com
Web: www.brandview.com
Brand View is the leading global provider of price, promotion, product
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We enable our clients, retailers and suppliers, to measure and manage their price
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is a registered trademarkBrand View®
Telephone.
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