Key Strategies for Winning at the Digital Shelf

KEY STRATEGIES
FOR WINNING AT THE
DIGITAL SHELF
BRANDSQUARE WEBINAR
DECEMBER 14, 2017

VICE PRESIDENT,
CLIENT ENGAGEMENT
SPEAKERS
2
Bruce Levinson
GLOBAL PRODUCT
DIRECTOR, E-CONTENT
Uma Kannappan
©2017 Matthews International Corporation. All rights reserved.

©2017 Matthews International Corporation. All Rights Reserved.©2017 Matthews International Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
The right product content and e-Commerce strategies are essential to succeed
THE CONTEXT
Today e-Commerce sales of fast-moving consumer goods account for around
1.5% of total sales in the U.S. Over the next 10 years, that percentage is
expected to grow to around 9%*, and be the major component of CPG growth.
3
*HTTPS://WWW.KANTARWORLDPANEL.COM/GLOBAL/NEWS/GLOBAL-E-COMMERCE-GROCERY-MARKET-HAS-GROWN-15-TO-48BN
**CLAVISINSIGHT.COM; THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON
***HTTP://WWW.WEBCOLLAGE.COM/WP-CONTENT/UPLOADS/BSK-PDF-MANAGER/1424_3M_WEBCOLLAGE_CASESTUDY_FINAL_11.PDF
• Only 30% of consumers are willing to click past the first
page**. Winning at search is critical to driving sales.
• Content drives conversion. According to a major CPG
case study, a product with strong market share benefited
from a significant sales increase and gains in additional
market share after adding rich content.***
High Quality Content Is Paramount to Winning at the Digital Shelf

©2017 Matthews International Corporation. All Rights Reserved.©2017 Matthews International Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Product content is more important than ever
THE CONTEXT
4
*SALSIFY
• 1/3 of consumers are unsatisfied with the amount of product
or visual content provided online*
• 87% of consumers rate the inclusion of product content
extremely or very important when deciding to buy*
• 98% of digital shoppers have not completed a purchase due
to incomplete or incorrect content*
Amount of Product Detail and Information Accuracy is Key

WINNING AT THE DIGITAL SHELF
REQUIRES A STRATEGIC AND
INTEGRATED APPROACH
5
FIVE KEY AREAS OF FOCUS
e-Commerce
Product
Content
Search
Rankings
Ratings &
Reviews
Mobile Screen
Optimization
Price
1 2 3 4 5

6
E-COMMERCE
PRODUCT
CONTENT

E-COMMERCE PRODUCT CONTENT
7
Planning for product content in a strategic way
▸AUDIT current content to identify
gaps
▸PRIORITIZE key retailers and
develop content for these retailers’
specific requirements
▸Get BASIC CONTENT right first
(product titles, product descriptions,
benefit and feature bullets, title includes
commonly searched terms, multiple views
of product)
▸Use ENHANCED CONTENT for top-
selling or high potential products
▸Images should be OPTIMIZED FOR
MOBILE SCREENS
▸REFRESH CONTENT regularly based
on retailer analytics and other
content/consumer insights
▸UPDATE CONTENT for seasonal
relevance
▸BENCHMARK AGAINST KEY
COMPETITORS to see what thy are
doing well and what they are not
▸MEASURE PERFORMANCE, identify
areas of improvement, update content
and repeat
▸Good, COMPREHENSIVE PRODUCT
CONTENT influences search rankings
on many online retailer sites, including
Amazon

E-COMMERCE PRODUCT CONTENT
8
Delivering on shoppers’ needs while building the brand
▸BENEFITS of high quality online product images:
▹they make the brand and product more RECOGNIZABLE
▹they help BUILD CONSUMER TRUST
▹they are a source of VALUE-ADDED BRAND ADVERTISING
▹they increase the likelihood of SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING
▹they provide a COMPETITIVE EDGE

9
RETAILER SITE
SEARCH
RANKINGS

RETAILER SITE SEARCH RANKINGS
10
Ensuring products are discoverable on retailer sites
▸Search rankings drive findability on an online retailer’s site
▸So, it is important for a brand to AIM TO RANK ON PAGE 1
and AT THE TOP of an online retailer’s search results for the
key terms
▸SEARCH RANKINGS are influenced by:
▹product title copy
▹right key words in title and descriptions
▹sales rank
▹compliance with retailer requirements
▸Brands need to CONTINUALLY MONITOR where their products
rank for key search terms

11
RATINGS &
REVIEWS

RATINGS & REVIEWS
12
Consumer feedback is an important driver at digital shelf
▸69% OF ALL CONSUMERS will
search the internet for online reviews
of a product before making a
decision to purchase
▸Shoppers use ratings & reviews to:
▹filter products
▹COMPARISON SHOP to narrow
down their consideration set
▸RATINGS & REVIEWS IMPACT
SEARCH POSITION on some online
retailer sites, including Amazon
▸Brands can use the INSIGHTS
FROM CONSUMER REVIEWS to
develop additional product content
▸Companies need to REGULARLY
MONITOR RATINGS & REVIEWS
due to its ability to influence
consumers

13
OPTIMIZING
FOR MOBILE
SCREENS

OPTIMIZING FOR MOBILE SCREENS
14
Products need to be recognizable on small screen sizes
▸Increasingly, shoppers are using
their MOBILE PHONES FOR
ONLINE SHOPPING, especially for
replenishment products
▸The KEY INFORMATION that mobile
shoppers are looking for in order to
purchase are brand, product, size
and variant cues
▸Consumers frequently ADD THE
WRONG ITEM to their cart when
images aren’t optimized for mobile
display
▸Consumers on MOBILE SELECT
PRODUCT BASED ON IMAGE
FIRST and may or may not read the
accompanying text

PRICING
15 ©2017 Matthews International Corporation. All rights reserved.

PRICING
16
Alternatives to price matching
▸Online, PRICING is competitive,
highly transparent and a basis for
comparison shopping
▸Therefore, companies need to
MONITOR AND UNDERSTAND how
their products are priced relative to
competitors and do this on a daily
basis
▸Rigor of monitoring needed to
preserve brand equity and also
ensure retailer COMPLIANCE to
Minimum Advertised Price (MAP)
policies
▸Rather than competing solely on
price, manufacturers should also look
at ALTERNATIVES such as:
▹ differentiating their products on
FEATURES AND BENEFITS
▹ developing ACCOUNT SPECIFIC
SKUS
▹ alternate pricing strategies such as
BUNDLED PROMOTIONS AND
QUANTITY DISCOUNTS that are
harder to match

17
KEY
TAKEAWAYS

KEY TAKEAWAYS
18
CONSUMERS SEEK THE FOLLOWING
WHEN SHOPPING ONLINE:
⦿ Product content to inform their purchase
⦿ A wide product assortment
⦿ Ease in finding the products they are looking for
⦿ Time savings / Convenience

KEY TAKEAWAYS
19
IN ORDER TO DELIVER ON THESE CONSUMER
EXPECTATIONS, BRANDS NEED TO CONSIDER
THE FOLLOWING:
Make consumer discovery and engagement with
products easier
Ensure product content reinforces brand equities
while it answers common consumer questions
Communicate product benefits and features clearly
and in a compelling, engaging way
Ensure the product featured is relevant to the shopper
engaging with it
Apply a test-and-learn approach to the key strategy
areas we’ve outlined to refine e-commerce efforts

VICE PRESIDENT,
CLIENT ENGAGEMENT
QUESTIONS?
20
Bruce Levinson
Bruce.Levinson@sgkinc.com
GLOBAL PRODUCT
DIRECTOR,
E-CONTENT
Uma Kannappan
Uma.Kannappan@sgkinc.com

THANK YOU.
©2017 Matthews International Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the copyright holder.
Schawk is a registered trademark of Matthews International Corporation. The Brandimage, IDL, Schawk and Saueressig logos are trademarks of Matthews International
Corporation. The SGK and Anthem logos are registered trademarks of Matthews International Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective trademark
owners.

©2017 Matthews International Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be
reproduced in any form without written permission from the copyright holder. Schawk is a
registered trademark of Matthews International Corporation. The Brandimage, IDL, Schawk and
Saueressig logos are trademarks of Matthews International Corporation. The SGK and Anthem
logos are registered trademarks of Matthews International Corporation. All other trademarks are
the property of their respective trademark owners.
http://www.sgkinc.com
http://www.anthemww.com
http://www.brand-image.com
http://www.schawk.com
http://www.idlww.com
http://saueressig.com/en/
http://www.matw.com

Key Strategies for Winning at the Digital Shelf