Spring is in the air, which means longer days and better weather. The prelude to summer is the perfect time for a touch of spring cleaning — both online and offline.
If your metrics have plateaued or you simply want to keep up with the fast-moving ecommerce world, there’s no better time to turn your attention to your ecommerce strategy.
Salsify’s “2024 Consumer Research” report, a survey of 2,700 U.S. and U.K. respondents across generation groups, shows that 45% of shoppers have returned an item due to incorrect product content.
Usually, this comes down to outdated information or manual errors that can be traced back to your product database.
Start your spring cleaning by examining and cleaning up your existing data.
This might look like:
What tools are you using? If your tech stack looks more like a clunky Jenga pile than a slick, automated ecosystem, it might be time for a change. Assess what each tool in your stack is doing for your brand and whether it contributes to your success or hinders it.
For example, you might use multiple tools to carry out email marketing campaigns when you could easily use just one. Remember that technology is developing all the time, so there’s a good chance new tools are available now that weren’t before.
The number of options available for consumers today is enormous. Brands are constantly vying for the top spot in the search results — and for good reason.
According to First Page Sage, 68.7% of clicks on Google search results go to the top three organic listings. Luckily, the findings differ on marketplaces like Amazon, where only 14% of shoppers stop at the first page, and 25% will continue to the fifth page of results.
While this is good news for lower-ranking product pages, that’s where the gravy train ends. There’s a huge drop-off after page five, so if you’re not ranking somewhere in those pages for your chosen keywords, you can say goodbye to sales.
Your spring cleaning strategy should absolutely involve analyzing your SEO performance — both in the search engines and on relevant marketplaces.
Here’s how you can start to improve your efforts:
It’s important to note that SEO isn’t just about using the right keywords in the right place. Searchers favor listings that feature high-quality images and engaging product content that encourages them to stick around.
Search engines and marketplaces pick up on this and are more likely to rank pages that have a high amount of time spent on site.
Goldilocks is a familiar tale — she liked things just right. But how does this fairytale reference apply to ecommerce businesses?
Salsify research shows that 49% of consumers seek a “just right” mix of online and offline shopping experiences. The modern buying journey is a healthy blend of online research and in-person purchasing (or vice versa).
Twenty-three percent of shoppers have used a smartphone to buy a product while shopping inside a physical store, while 54% have used a smartphone to search for more information about a product while shopping in-store, per Salsify’s consumer research.
Shoppers must find consistent information regardless of the channel they’re using. For example, if a shopper is looking at a pair of shoes in-store and goes online to read reviews, they need to first be able to find the product before easily tapping into reviews and other persuasive purchase information.
Optimizing product content to create a seamless experience across channels creates a lasting impression and allows shoppers to weave effortlessly between online and in-store shopping.
One of the biggest sticking points of online shopping is the inability to see or touch a product before buying. Because of this, shoppers are far more discerning when choosing which brands to invest in.
They rely heavily on visuals — like product images and videos — to make a decision. For example, 76% of Salsify surveyees said high-quality product images are “very” or “extremely” important to deciding whether to click on a product page from the search results.
So, if your current library of images is blurry, dark, or simply doesn’t reflect your products well, it’s time to change that. Make sure your visuals are well-lit, show your products from all angles, and include videos where possible. Shoppers want to see a product in action before they make a purchase.
Califia Farms does an excellent job of highlighting the main features of its products with its “Reasons to Love” section and symbols that depict important info like “vegan” and “gluten-free.” Shoppers can easily see the main features of a product without needing to search far and wide.
Califia Farms also does a great job of showing shoppers how to use its product with its “Enjoyment Instructions.”
Fifty-seven percent of shoppers think clear, compelling titles are “very” or “extremely” important when deciding to complete a purchase, according to Salsify research.
Truthfully, shoppers won’t click through to your product page from the search results if your titles aren’t up to scratch.
You need to capture attention with eye-catching titles that describe your product and include a smattering of critical product information, like color, brand, size, materials, or ingredients.
Including as much descriptive information as possible in your product titles helps shoppers make snap decisions about whether to click through or not.
Review your existing product titles and ask yourself:
Image Source: Amazon
This search for “pink dog bowls” on Amazon shows how different brands are using their product titles to convey information and inspire click-throughs.
According to Salsify research, 65% of shoppers say online marketplaces like Amazon are their primary places to buy. Many start their buying journey on these platforms to compare products and prices. But again, the competition is fierce. The search term “alarm clock” has more than 10,000 results and even the more descriptive term “500ml green bamboo water bottle” has 100 results.
Image Source: Amazon
To stand out, you need to optimize your presence in these marketplaces. This means optimizing your product titles to include relevant keywords and descriptive elements and ensuring all product visuals are high quality.
Shoppers rely on previous reviews and ratings to make purchasing decisions. According to Salsify research, 72% use ratings and reviews, while 40% look for user-generated content (UGC) like customer images and videos.
These rich pieces of content show potential buyers what shoppers think about a product and show unfiltered, real visuals that haven’t been edited by a brand. If you haven’t yet incorporated social proof into your product pages, now’s the time to do so. As the competition continues to increase, shoppers will turn more and more to the opinions of past shoppers.
Image Source: Dyson
Dyson’s on-brand reviews and ratings add a visual element to product pages.
Social media is a whole other beast entirely, but if you’re not leveraging its powerful capabilities, start changing that — especially if you want to reach Generation Z (Gen Z).
Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are evolving from entertainment channels for silly dances and sunset pictures to entire ecosystems that allow people to socialize, learn, and shop. Salsify research shows that 34% of shoppers recently bought a product from a social media platform, and 17% have recently bought a product because it was trending on social media.
These digital marketing platforms are discovery powerhouses and are becoming more like search engines by the day — but you have to be in it to win it. Analyze your current performance on social media and identify potential opportunities for social selling.
You can do this by:
Modern buying journeys still take inspiration from traditional ways of purchasing. Shoppers need to pass through the awareness stage, consideration stage, and decision-making stage before they commit to a purchase. At each stage, you risk losing shoppers if they don’t get their needs met.
The last part of spring cleaning your ecommerce strategy should be walking through the buying journey as if you were a customer. Start by running a search to see how easy it is to find your products and compare your product pages to competitors to ensure you have ample rich content — this includes videos, high-quality images, 360-degree visuals, graphs, charts, and illustrations.
Finally, walk through the checkout process to see what shoppers experience when they add products to their cart and go to the final stage: purchase. Make a note of potential friction points and explore ways you can iron out any creases to create a seamless journey from start to finish — regardless of channel.
The bottom line is this: You can’t afford to become complacent. What worked in your ecommerce strategy last year might not work this year. It’s important to constantly reassess, reevaluate, and freshen up your product page content, titles, descriptions, and SEO strategy.
Use this time (and these tips) to tweak your ecommerce strategy this spring to maintain your place on the digital shelf.