The MultichannelDay is an annual one-day trade fair that is open to all kinds of stakeholders from the e-commerce sector. The event covers topics like online marketplaces, sales on social web, and brand building.The organisers’ overall recommendation for a digital business-model is to not rely on one single online channel but to combine various channels in a strategic manner.
Based on our project-experience at eVisions Advertising, we can confirm that such an approach is the right choice. Moreover, we would add that a review of implemented channels and a permanent adjustment is recommended too.
Based on the presentations and discussions at the annual MultichannelDay, we have identified ten concrete lessons that we would like to share with you.
General recommendations for improving performance in e-commerce
1. The importance of ‘Click & Appointment’ and ‘Click & Collect’ increased over the last year. This type of enterprise-customer interaction means that you can book a time slot for an on-site visit at the company or complete the purchase online and pick-up the product yourself. It might be feasible, if the sales process of your products includes intensive consultation and is a convenient way to combine offline and online sales.
2. The financial turnover from online sales must not necessarily stem from comparatively simple keywords with high search volume. Often, revenue is generated from longer but more precise keywords or keyword combinations. In some cases, the profit also originates from single keywords only.
3. The current state-of-the art for customer guidance by UX design is a combination of two steps: to clarify the intent of the user + continual Yes/No-purchase decision. It is advised against solutions that prolong the purchase decision by alternative products or offer only immediate purchase Call-to-Actions.
4. It can make sense to use as many different channels as possible with the defined goal to reach out to new customers. But for regular customers it can be more feasible to keep them loyal to your own online shop.
Amazon and different international marketplace networks:
5. Inside Amazon it is more effective to implement advertising and sponsored products with targeted keywords on similar products to what the user currently views. An example would be any different kind of kitchen equipment for users who are currently browsing the result pages of a kitchen product. Such a strategy aims at “adding items to the shopping cart” and is also applied on different platforms.
6. The Amazon Brand Story feature allows for a relatively free creation of individual content based on a set of components. This is an option to communicate your USPs or different product categories.
7. It is possible to release a personalised brand store on Amazon. In such brand stores, you can manually select that currently unavailable products are hidden. Also, from 2022, it is possible to use the “sponsored brand video ads” option. Videos can be created inside the platform with the tool “Video Creative Builder”.
8. Inside of Amazon, it is much more complex to aim advertisement on customised target groups than to target on keywords. Thus, for new sellers on Amazon, it is recommended to aim advertisement campaigns on strategically selected keywords.
9. On the Kaufland marketplace the first place for keyword optimization is the product description. Commercial names should be avoided in product descriptions but diverse adjectives are useful.
10. Small market providers push the trend towards higher ecological standards and sustainability on marketplaces. Topics in this area concern a seamless CO2 monitoring the complete supply chain, the option of CO2-compensation of an order, increased requirements for contributing merchants and sometimes a focus on the local circular economy approach.
Although the majority of the e-commerce sector and marketplaces aim primarily at private customers, it is worth mentioning that some providers also developed a focus on the B2B-segment and sometimes even offer specific billing options for that purpose.
