As the COVID-19 pandemic has driven more shoppers online than ever before, ecommerce has become not just a necessity for consumers but also for retailers struggling to meet customers’ changing needs during an unprecedented time. In fact, according to the Cleveland Research company, “Manufacturers expect ecommerce to reach 21% of their U.S. retail sales in 2021, up from 15% seen in 2019.”
But changes come with new challenges, namely efficiently using advertising budgets on retailer websites in order to capture and convert first-time digital shoppers as effectively as native direct-to-consumer businesses. And nowhere is that struggle more pressing than in online marketplaces such as Walmart and Amazon, where millions of retailers are all competing for the attention of consumers who are possibly not only new to the ecommerce landscape but also expect the same high quality and quick delivery they would expect from shopping a local business.
Unfortunately, all-too-often at least a portion of ecommerce ad spend is wasted pushing products that are out of stock or simply aren’t converting. That’s why Skai has partnered with Profitero to bring real-time insights to retailers fighting for attention in increasingly crowded marketplaces.
Through the partnership, Profitero and Skai are reducing wasted marketing spend by factoring consumer purchasing signals—like a product’s page traffic, conversion rates, availability rates and organic search traffic—in the algorithms used to drive ad targeting and bidding decisions. Profitero collects these signals continuously using its advanced retail data collection technology, which spans 50 countries and 8,000 retailer websites and mobile apps. Skai’s automation technology can translate Profitero’s insights into real-time action by using its enterprise-grade advertising automation platform.
This combined approach helps brands proactively identify opportunities to scale by redirecting advertising spend towards products, categories and audiences most likely to generate return.
Let’s learn more about the ways Profitero helps maximize ecommerce ad spend:
Skai Partner Spotlight: Profitero
Strengthen digital supply chain
Just as the customer in a physical retail location has their first product interaction with an item on the shelf, consumers also encounter a “digital shelf” in online marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart by way of both search results and paid advertisements. However, pushing a product that’s out of stock in these digital retail spaces is tantamount to leaving customers reaching for an empty shelf, which can have negative impacts on both campaign efficacy and retailers’ bottom lines, according to Profitero’s SVP of strategy, Keith Anderson:
“Retail-readiness”—a product’s basic fitness to be listed and advertised effectively—can have big implications for how a campaign performs or if it’s permitted to be launched at all,” Anderson recently told Skai. “For example, a product that’s out-of-stock or doesn’t convert may not be a great candidate for advertising. On the other hand, an item that converts well when shoppers see it but under-indexes on traffic is a great candidate for ads.”
Profitero’s algorithms can tell businesses which products are converting and also indicate when businesses are promoting products that are out of stock, which goes a long way towards getting, and keeping, that digital shelf retail ready.
Optimize for greater ROI
And by partnering with Skai to provide advanced campaign insights alongside these product insights, marketers and advertisers alike can make real-time adjustments in order to push products that are actually converting, which maximizes ROI while also providing insights for smarter ad buys:
“It’s impossible to separate your advertising performance on a retailer site, like Amazon and Walmart.com, from product performance,” said Bryan Wiener, CEO of Profitero recently told Skai. “If a product is out of stock, has poor content or poor quality reviews, then all of those things are going to weigh on the consumer’s decision to buy and you are not going to get the full return on investment,’ “Integrating our analytics with Skai’s technology will enable brands to make smarter, more targeted ad buy decisions based on a holistic knowledge of their best-performing products across retailers, resulting in more efficient growth online.”
Create content that converts
Traditionally, there has been a great deal of guesswork when it comes to deciding which products to promote in ecommerce marketplaces, but understanding which products drive conversions in addition to understanding which ads are most engaging means that future campaigns are laser-focused on products and well as content that customers are actually excited about:
“Instead of managing retailer advertising campaigns in silos without insight into product performance, marketers can automatically count on their sponsored products being “retail-ready” with all the attributes of a product that will convert well and be profitable,” Anderson said. “Ultimately, brands can now scale retailer media budgets efficiently as costs continue to rise and outsmart competitors who will drain their budgets faster.”
For more information about how your business can make smarter, data-driven decisions by collecting the data that counts, Book a Meeting here.
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