In the information age, data is crucial to any organization’s decision making. It points us down the most profitable paths and helps us avoid big mistakes. It helps us drill deep and identify specific areas for improvement.
So, is it data or hunches that drive your company’s decision making?
ChannelAdvisor Brand Analytics gives brands the ammunition they need to grow in the most beneficial areas and defend their position in online retailer relationships. We do this by gathering data in four critical areas:
- Assortment and availability
- Prices and promotions
- Search and digital shelf
- Content and reviews
By monitoring these four pillars, brands have the data they need to modify strategies in underperforming areas, improve brand awareness and stay in control when online retailers claim your products “just aren’t performing.” While you can’t always influence factors like the changing economy or a retailer’s website, you can drive performance by monitoring and optimizing variables in your control.
Pillar 1: Assortment and Availability
It’s a no-brainer to put the right products in front of the most relevant audiences. Have you tailored your assortments to channels that make the most sense for your target market? Further, are your products available to them when they’re ready to buy?
Brand Analytics helps you track data points such as:
- Out-of-stock rates
- Buy box ownership and loss rates
- Assortment strength among top online retailers
- Number of product URLs across your network
Armed with this data, you can continually monitor retailer sites for contract compliance, remedy critical out-of-stocks as quickly as possible and set up selective distribution to increase online retailer oversight.
Pillar 2: Prices and Promotions
Online retailers are free to set their own prices. But competition between them may result in complaints about low profit margins. From MSRPs to brand promotions, you can still positively influence online retailer prices.
Brand Analytics helps you track metrics such as:
- MSRP deltas
- Days below MSRP
- Significant price drops and MAP infringements
- Engagement in brand-led promotions
When you monitor retailer prices and promotions with Brand Analytics, it’s easy to spot pricing mistakes. You can also better understand price-matching dynamics and coordinate joint promotional campaigns with retailer partners.
Pillar 3: Search and Digital Shelf
Can consumers find your products in search and on the digital shelf? Brand Analytics helps you ensure they can. While you can’t influence a retailer’s search algorithm, you can regularly track your performance and modify your own product information.
Brand Analytics helps you track metrics such as:
- Share of top-of-page products
- Share of search on brand and category terms
- Share of sponsored result on priority keywords
When you know where you stand, you can take steps toward improving your position with stronger product descriptions that include key search terms. You can also account for search performance when planning promotions and optimize ad spend through digital marketing and retail media.
Pillar 4: Content and Reviews
Are retailers positively and accurately portraying your brand? If your content and ratings lack detail or positivity, it could deeply impact conversion and negatively affect brand image.
Brand Analytics helps you track data points such as:
- Average consumer rating and counts
- Title and description length
- Number of images on page
- Presence and quality of enhanced content
- Percentage of pages with full content compliance
You don’t have all day to monitor product pages for incoming reviews, but Brand Analytics can alert you to less-than-ideal content and ratings so you can quickly modify or respond. With content and review data across all your channels, you can optimize content for traffic and make the most of rich content opportunities when available.
Win at Retail with Brand Analytics
Having data at your fingertips gives you the insights you need to pivot quickly, correct suboptimal product elements and increase revenue on retailer channels. With scores for each of the four pillars, Brand Analytics also provides an executive scorecard to give leadership a snapshot of overall performance.
When you have channel performance data readily available, you can improve retailer meetings, strengthen partner relationships and ultimately win in the space.
Download our Maximizing Retailer Partnerships with Brand Analytics guide for a step-by-step look at improving your retailer quarterly business reviews (QBRs). Or, watch our webinars 2022 Digital Shelf Benchmark: How Top Brands Claim an Unfair Share of Retail Sales and How Brands Can Leverage Analytics to Drive Productive Retailer QBRs for even more helpful hints on optimizing retailer performance with data.
