In the world of eCommerce, it's easy to lose sight of the big picture. You're so focused on your customers and your products that you forget that there are other factors at play here—ones that can impact your brand in ways that you never saw coming.
One of the best ways to ensure your brand's protection is through analytics. Analytics allow you to collect and analyze data about your eCommerce business in order to make informed decisions about how best to move forward.
eCommerce analytics studies data from every area that impacts your business to help you understand the changing market conditions and consumer behavior. With such data, you can make better decisions to increase sales and generate more revenue. eCommerce analytics also includes all the data points in a customer journey, from discovery, acquisition, and conversion to retention.
Not only does it help understand what consumers want but also how you can protect your brand online. Plus, it also shows how the success of your eCommerce brand depends on this aspect. With the evolution of the eCommerce space, you should also enhance your brand protection strategy. There are certain vital areas the analytics team needs to monitor to build a marketing strategy that brings consistent results.
Four key eCommerce data points to protect your brand online
Protect your brand online by keeping an eye on these four key eCommerce data points.
1. Ensure content consistency
Ensure your brand message is consistent across different channels. When there is a difference in brand tone and voice, the recall value is not high. This further extends to poor trust factors. An incomplete product description page negatively impacts the brand image. When you explain the USP, the price after discount, and features clearly, customers can make an informed decision. Even a video demonstration for a technical product can have a considerable impact on the customer’s buying decision. Plus, the use of necessary keywords and required word count can boost SEO ranking.
Content consistency also involves uniformity in brand design. And as stated earlier, it will increase recall value. You can have a style guide that different teams can follow. The elements in this guide can consist of the brand logo, brand color palette, tagline, etc.
Solution
Analytics can track the following attributes to ensure quality content is available to customers:
Right product names and brand names
Details regarding product features, dimensions, and sizes,
Highlighting different product variants, if any, in size or color
Product identification information, SKU or UPC number
Product warranties, if any
Logos, certifications, and accreditations, if any
2. Build pricing consistency
One of the important things that influence shopping behavior is pricing. Buyers compare a product's price before making a decision. Therefore a good pricing strategy is crucial. With the rise in price comparison websites like Google Shopping, Yahoo Shopping, CamelCamelCamel, or Pronto, it is easier to track prices. This kind of price irregularity is something customers are taking advantage of.
Without a proper pricing strategy in place, customers can lose trust in the brand. They evaluate a product with the value it offers and their perception can make or break your sale. When products are at a lower price, they transform the buyer behavior. It raises questions about the quality and even brings down the value of the product. You lose customers and even retailers in this situation.
Solution
The job of the analytics team is to track prices and ensure that there are no MAP violations. The data they need to monitor should also include:
The list price or manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP)
The unit price finds it relevant when pricing groceries
The advertised price can have a discount tag
Prices for product bundles, a pricing strategy where complementary products or services get sold together at a discounted price
Volume discount pricing, where customers reap the rewards for purchasing more of a product or service with a higher discount.
Coupons, deals, welcome offers
Apart from ensuring MAP is followed, it is imperative to do price monitoring for competitor products as well. Plus, you need to also track location-based pricing and promotional pricing methods.
3. Understand brand positioning
Your brand should always know who it's up against. The analytics team can provide insight into how well the brand fares compared to others, as it can impact the brand image. For example, imagine you are a premium brand, and there is a brand selling similar products but at a lower price; this can cost you customers and revenue. Plus, it reduces the worth of your product. A brand that has a monopoly and those who serve buyers alongside other sellers must constantly monitor their competitors.
Understanding brand positioning is important as it provides clarity regarding who you serve. In addition, it helps buyers understand what sets their brand apart. Moreover, this can help you justify your pricing strategy. And if you want to protect a brand image, it is connected with how it's positioned. Therefore, the analytics team must go beyond tracking the product page.
Solution
Other key areas to track:
Retailer brand pages as they are the first port of call
Tracking brand search results to monitor which other brands are surfacing on the web page in the particular category
Comparisons with related products and services, a feature by Amazon where similar items are recommended to customers
Tracking banner ads and checking whether competitor items show up via ads
4. Identify counterfeits and fakes
One space that needs to be monitored is the rise in counterfeit or fake products. Identification of fakes is crucial for protecting a brand's image. According to reports by organizations like the FBI, Interpol, World Customs Organization, and the International Chamber of Commerce, counterfeit products make up 7 to 8% of global commerce yearly. And with the rise of eCommerce and more businesses coming on board, this situation will likely worsen.
There is yet another section of the market you need to track to ensure brand protection, grey goods. They get sold through channels where the owner has not approved the product. Monitoring this space lets you find the problem area in your supply chain.
Usually, counterfeits end up gaining more share in the marketplace by selling goods for a cheaper price, and they usually knock off designer brands. From counterfeits to grey goods, every one of these negatively impacts sales, revenue, and the image of the original brand.
Solution:
To counter this and to ensure your brand does not lose out on customers, the analytics team needs to track conspicuous activities on eCommerce sites. One way to track fake products is by obtaining product images and using technology to check differences in design. You can also track them by reading the product description page. If there are discrepancies, they may be counterfeit or gray goods.
Even pricing is an excellent way to track them, usually, fakes price their goods at a lower rate. Another way to single out counterfeits is by looking at keywords or phrases as such businesses would hope to attract buyers who searched for that particular product.
Go for a web data partner to protect your brand online.
Web data plays a major role in protecting your brand's online presence. And as seen in most of the points above, insights are critical for brand success. When you rely heavily on web data to help you make better decisions, you must choose a reliable data partner.
This is where Datahut comes in, your one-stop solution for all the data needs. With our experts at work to get you the most relevant data, you will be able to focus on other areas and therefore increase the overall efficiency of your brand. With just a click away, get a competitive edge in the market. Contact us today!