Brands are Being Squeezed From All Sides
Pressure on margins within online retail, an increasing array of private labeled goods, declining in-store sales, the growing popularity of native D2C and other upstart companies.
But underlying all these trends is the reality, confirmed by both retail site behavior analysis and stated preferences, that today’s consumers overwhelmingly value, and attribute brand trust, to a good product experience. They are both willing to pay more, and are likely to buy more often, from brands that deliver it.
For brands to build this trust with a great product experience, so much relies on content, and this carries over to brands selling on online retail sites.
A Salsify analysis completed in early 2018 demonstrated that if you take two listings that appear side-by-side in an Amazon search engine results page (SERP), the one with more images will convert at a higher rate and outrank the competitor 53% of the time. In the same way, a listing with more bullets will convert higher and outrank the side-by-side competitor 51% of the time. And finally, a listing with more reviews will convert higher and outrank the competitor 58% of the time.
When brands deliver this experience on the product page, and back it up with an actual product to match, consumers keep coming back, write reviews, and create a virtuous cycle for the brand itself. A survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers who shopped online at least once in 2017, drives home the idea that eCommerce hasn’t killed consumer loyalty or trust in brands, it’s just shifted that trust from brand familiarity or visibility, onto more experiential terms. Brands have a golden opportunity to drive higher margins and more sales by focusing on online product content and delivering an overall terrific product experience.
