Consumers want the ability to purchase their favorite products no matter what channel they’re in. Are you doing everything you can to keep them on the path to purchase? Today’s shoppable media technology extends far beyond your brand website, which is exciting news if you’re a brand that executes any sort of digital campaigns. That includes your email campaigns, digital advertising, social commerce and even your video content. Essentially, anywhere you can embed a product link (even if you’re using QR codes), you can make the campaign more actionable and dynamic in nature with shoppable media.  

We recently hosted two webinars to help you learn about and take advantage of shoppable media featuring tips and best practices from our e-commerce experts: Frictionless E-Commerce: How to Leverage Shoppable Media Across All Digital Campaigns and How to Create Effective Shoppable Media Campaigns: Actionable Tips and Best Practices for Brands

Get a sneak peek of the key concepts and benefits viewers learned about shoppable media.

The Rise of Shoppable Media

Shoppable media is a layer of technology that directly facilitates purchases by making your digital content actionable for purchase. It can take on different forms, depending on your objectives and even the preferences of your consumers.

For instance, shoppable media can include components of what most people call “where to buy” and even buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS). It can also incorporate dynamic linking and interstitial widgets that help overcome those conversion roadblocks like out-of-stock products or lack of checkout options.

It can be applied to any of your social media campaigns, ads or websites to make content more actionable. As consumer behaviors evolve toward a more digitally savvy world, providing them with options (everywhere from Youtube to Instagram) is critical. 

“Don’t discount your own website or the impact social media has on consumers — especially young adults,” says Greg Ives, senior manager of product marketing at ChannelAdvisor. “A significant portion of your customers are turning to social media at some point in the funnel.”

Implementing shoppable media tools results in benefits such as:

  • Easier or shorter path to purchase for consumers who are ready to buy
  • Strengthened channel and retailer relationships
  • Richer insights into consumer behavior, product performance and sales performance
  • Fewer roadblocks like out-of-stock experiences and lack of checkout options

Shoppable media can also help prevent customer abandonment when met with an “out of stock” message. Currently, 84% of consumers turn to a competitor to buy a similar product, according to a recent survey conducted by ChannelAdvisor. But shoppable media tools allow you to retain revenue that could’ve been lost by directing them to backup products or pre-selected retailers with available inventory instead. 

Shoppable Media’s Main Components

ChannelAdvisor Shoppable Media offers multiple ways to keep customers interested, whether on your brand website or other media.

Where to Buy Online 

Apply the Where to Buy Online widget to your brand website so consumers can select which retailer they want to check out with. Once they’ve made their selection, they’re taken to either their preferred retailer’s product detail page or directly to a shopping cart – depending on how you and the retailer wish to arrange it.  

Where to Buy Local

Similar to the Where to Buy Online widget, the Where to Buy Local widget helps shoppers find your products at stores in their local area. The widget applies a button on your site to “find local retailers,” directing them to maps with available locations and even inventory levels or current promotions where applicable. 

Dynamic Shopping Links

If a consumer runs into a product that is out of stock, their buyer journey doesn’t have to end there. Dynamic Shopping Links allow you to provide alternatives to interested buyers instead of losing to competitors. Use Dynamic Shopping Links to display product variations (e.g., a 1.5 oz bottle instead of 3 oz), bundles that contain the selected product or backup retailers that you pre-select. Either way, you have more control over the experience, reducing dead ends, managing consumer expectations and giving fair and equitable treatment to retailers. 

Buy Now Interstitial

Sometimes, consumers prefer to select their own preferred retailers — where they feel most comfortable checking out. Instead of automatically taking the customer to an in-stock product page, the Buy Now Interstitial allows the customer to decide where they’ll complete their purchase by letting them engage with an on-brand interstitial experience. Once the interested consumer clicks on the embedded link (let’s say in a video ad), they’re presented with a list of preferred retailers who have the product or a back-up product in-stock. The customer is then able to decide where they’ll check out. 

Create Shoppable Experiences

Finding the right mix of shoppable media tactics depends on several situations and factors that are unique to your brand and even your consumers. But no matter which solutions you decide to employ, you can rest assured that you’ll be providing a better shopping experience for your consumers. 

Ready to dig in and learn more about shoppable media? Watch the two webinars on demand now: 

If you’re ready to start taking advantage of shoppable media today, contact us today. 

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