Anukriti Jain

Southeast Asia eCommerce

Southeast Asia eCommerce: Beginning of A New Chapter

The e-commerce landscape is expanding with new global markets rising to the occasion with massive potential. Southeast Asia region is turning out to be the next e-commerce hub. The changing consumer behavior, rapid internet penetration rate, and young demographics are leading to the rise of the e Southeast Asian region. Let’s dive deeper to understands the prospects of the region and how new trends are shaping its future. Southeast Asia – New Hub of eCommerce business opportunities Every country in the Southeast Asian region has its own cultural nuances that shape the shopping trends. The global exposure and ease of doing business has brought global brands to SEA markets and also propelled the local homegrown digital brands. But the trends and shopping are quite different as compared to matured eCommerce marketplaces like US and China. The Changing consumer habits and expanding market has created new opportunities for brands entering the SEA market. Now the challenge is can they cater to new needs and meet customer exception with enhancing shopping experience. The SEA market has evolved post-pandemic with rapid rate – In between 2016 to 2021, the eCommerce sales grew 5 times, which is approximately 40% while retail share surged upto 20% from previous 5%. As compared to countries like China where population is on decline, Southeast Asia’s has expanding range of working population and estimated to be 23 million by 2030 (Source: Brain & co. Report). The rise in household income is also expected to touch new-high of 51 million (higher & upper middle class) by 2030. Rise in Consumption The combination of higher household income and expanding working class has propelled consumption. By 2030, the market is expected to add approximately 140 million plus new consumers. And that will be almost 16% of estimated world consumers. The world economic forum report on ASEAN member countries suggests many of these first-time shoppers make their first purchase online with first luxury product. This is quite contrast to the Indian-subcontinent where first time buyers start with small ticket items or fashion products. By 2027, The region is supposed to hit 402 million digital consumers according to the forecast by Brain & Co. Report with Indonesia leading growth, followed by the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. Southeast Asia may well be poised to become the ‘next China’ in terms of e-commerce growth potential given the current trajectory of e-commerce as a percentage of total sales and overall e-commerce sales surging. Shift in Consumer behaviour Gen Z & millennial are strengthening Southeast Asia’s eCommerce Landscape. According to Bain & co. Southeast Asia study report, across six countries, 60 percent of digital consumers do not know what they want to purchase when shopping online. The impulse shopping and product discovery while browsing, specially under non-essential category like fashion clothing and consumers electronics are the top categories with immense potential. In other words, they largely discover new products while they are browsing, particularly for non-essential categories like clothing and consumer electronics. Trends Guiding the SEA market Brands targeting nations like Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, in the region adapting to each country’s technological progress and consumer habits is the recipe for digital commerce success. The rise of mobile commerce The majority of Southeast Asian consumers now shop online using their mobile devices. This trend is being driven by the growing availability of smartphones and affordable data plans. Brands need to ensure that their websites and apps are optimized for mobile devices to reach this growing market. The growth of social commerce Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are becoming increasingly important for e-commerce in Southeast Asia. Brands can use social media to reach a wider audience, promote their products, and drive sales. The increasing popularity of online marketplaces Online marketplaces like Shopee, Lazada, and Tokopedia are becoming the go-to destinations for online shopping in Southeast Asia. Brands can benefit from selling their products on these marketplaces by tapping into their large customer base and getting access to their logistics and payment solutions. The focus on convenience Southeast Asian consumers are increasingly looking for convenience when shopping online. This means that brands need to offer fast and reliable delivery, as well as easy and secure payment methods. The importance of personalization Southeast Asian consumers are looking for brands that can provide them with a personalized shopping experience. This means that brands need to collect data about their customers and use it to tailor their offerings. Final Thoughts The young and feisty Southeast Asian market has touched new highs with a massive influx of brands eyeing the market. Every country in the region has a different level of penetration of eCommerce but the potential of the region is immense. The customer behavior has a lot in common with China and Korea as K-pop idols set fashion trends and Tik-Tok Shops are making waves in omni-channel eCommerce. However, the core issues in the competitive landscape are optimizing product listing and monitoring availability, keyword share, and tracking customer feedback. The mScanIt, ecommerce competitive intelligence helps brand navigate through the digital commerce ecosystem with a global dashboard to monitor product performance versus competition across categories, platforms, and countries. In this ever-evolving ecosystem brands need to be spot on identifying opportunities to stay ahead. Get in touch to learn more about brand safety in the digital ecosystem.

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Digital Commerce Intelligence

Cross-border Commerce: Optimize New Opportunities with Digital Commerce Intelligence

The world of e-commerce is expanding the international borders are no longer a hindrance in reaching out to new sets of interested shoppers instead it is an opportunity to expand, explore, and excel in new markets. But every marketplace across the world has its own guidelines, local cultural nuances, and distinct shopper behavior. Brands need that intelligence across platforms, regions, and competition to expand in the digital ecosystem. Let’s explore how intelligence can help brands in their cross-border commerce venture and what impact it has on the digital commerce landscape. What is cross-border commerce? Cross-border e-commerce is when a brand sells or buys products across an international border or across multiple destinations through e-commerce platforms. It could be between B2B or B2C in different countries. Cross-border commerce opens doors to the global market and allows brands to access a wider customer base, making inroads into markets they may not have been able to access via traditional retail. Brands can increase their sales and revenue by targeting customers in different countries and regions, each with its own purchasing power and demand for specific products. Brands can reduce their dependence on a single market by selling in multiple countries. How does e-commerce intelligence help the Cross-Border Commerce venture? In the digital commerce ecosystem, understanding the market and open up to local cultural behavior help identify shoppers’ choices. Rather than applying the experience of one country or marketplace on the other. For instance, the customer behavior and market dynamics of Indian e-commerce is quite a contrast from the Middle East and Southeast Asia e-commerce ecosystem. Equipped with Digital Commerce Intelligence brands can keep track of emerging consumer trends, shopping patterns, and preferences in different countries. Adapting to the market requirements and customer needs. This creates the need for analyzing large volumes of data across geographies and platforms to understand international customer behavior, preferences, and market dynamics. This data can inform decision-making and marketing strategies. eCommerce competitive intelligence across platforms and geographies can ease up the burden of brands, that have a wider global distribution network or sell cross borders on eCommerce platforms. It gives brands a competitive edge and can enhance brand exposure and visibility. It also helps establish a brand’s presence and reputation in the global market. Cross-border commerce provides brands an opportunity to target niche markets where product offerings are in high demand. Like an Indian snack brand targeting expatriate shoppers in the Middle East. Cross-border e-commerce: What you should know? Brands must be aware of the competition, market, and local regulations to build a good market share and build on using market intelligence and insights. Here are some key elements of cross-border e-commerce that brands should explore. Understand Local Trends: Adapting to region-specific trends, product specifications, and packaging helps the brand build a loyal customer base. Data-driven insights on product feedback, customer sentiments, and product detail page content help construct market strategies that suit the specific culture, language, and preferences. Boost Your Digital Presence: Enhancing your presence by bidding on the keywords that can increase your share of search in the region for sponsored listings and ad banners on the eCommerce platform. Identify what your brand needs to boost its digital shelf with platform-level intelligence versus local and global competition across categories and geographies. Know the Regulations: Understand and comply with the local eCommerce business laws and regulations of the platform. Also, prepare your product display page content specific to the platform and geographies. Know Your Competition: Identify key players across platforms under various categories, sub-categories, and variants in the target market and understand their strengths and weaknesses. Continuously monitor your performance and identify areas where you may be falling short or missing opportunities for improvement versus competition. Understand Customer & Market Needs: An understanding of customer preferences can help tailor your products and services to target shoppers in the region. The product descriptions and marketing content should be localized to resonate with local consumers and address their specific needs. Risk Management: Assess and mitigate the risks associated with cross-border commerce, such as currency fluctuations, political instability, or supply chain disruptions. Implement measures to prevent and detect ad fraud, which can be a significant issue in digital advertising. Ensure your products meet local safety and quality standards while maintaining brand consistency. Safeguard your intellectual property rights and trademarks to prevent infringement by others. Businesses need to carefully plan and execute each of these aspects to effectively expand into new markets and capture global e-commerce opportunities. Final Thoughts: Leveraging digital Commerce Intelligence for Cross-Border Commerce Digital commerce intelligence is a linchpin for brand success in cross-border commerce, providing invaluable actionable insights that can help build strategies to outpace the competition. By analysing the competitive landscape in each target market, brands can uncover gaps and advantages. Utilizing digital intelligence for real-time competitor pricing enables dynamic pricing adjustments. Connect with us to learn more about the capabilities of our digital commerce intelligence solution mScanIt, which provides a global dashboard to monitor core KPIs like availability, keyword share, rating and reviews, pricing, and a lot more across countries, platforms, and competition. Optimizing the shopping experience with data-driven insights can be a game-changer for brands in cross-border e-commerce.

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map-violations

eCommerce Seller Monitoring: Save Your Brand from Domino Effect of MAP Violations

Identification of MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) violators in real-time is critical for brands as it could damage brand reputation and product worth beyond repair in a quick time. The path to success on eCommerce marketplaces depends upon your choice of sellers and their performance. Monitoring Seller performance gives brands a much-needed edge in the competitive digital commerce landscape. The brands selling through re-sellers need to be well aware of their performance as it directly reflects upon a brand image. Let delve deeper to understand why brands need to build their strategies with insights on sellers’ performance, need to track MAP violations, and how it affects brand reputation and product worth on eCommerce marketplaces. Are you aware of at what price your product is sold? Consider a scenario – India top water purifier manufacturing company is selling its RO via authorized seller X at ₹16,400 while another seller Y is selling it at ₹12,900 while the brand has set the Threshold price of ₹14,500. The offer is enticing for shoppers but how will it impact your brand? Prompt other sellers to lower the price Leads to a domino effect on pricing and ultimately reduces the actual worth of the product Lose the trust of shoppers due to such price variation across sellers on a marketplace It affects your distribution channel To combat such a scenario brand, need to track pricing across pin codes and platforms with seller-level analysis. These scenarios are known as MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) Violations or Pricing Violations. A Similar scenario takes place when a seller offers more discount than the brand’s threshold discount known as Discount Violations. Identification of MAP violators in real-time is critical for a brand as it could damage brand reputation and product worth beyond repair in quick time. Save Your Brands from the Domino Effect of MAP Violations The “Domino effect of MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) Violations” refers to the potential negative consequences that can occur for a brand if MAP violations are not effectively managed and controlled. When one seller violates the MAP policy by advertising a product below the set minimum price, it can trigger a chain reaction of other sellers following suit, leading to a price war. This can ultimately lead to price erosion, degrade brand value, product worth and reduce profit margins. To prevent the domino effect of MAP violations and protect their brand, companies can take several proactive measures: Product Pricing Tracking: Brands should continuously monitor product prices across various eCommerce marketplaces and geographical regions. By doing so, they can identify sellers who are not adhering to the MAP policy and take appropriate action. Awareness of Violations: Brands need to stay vigilant and promptly identify any MAP violations. Timely awareness allows them to address the issue before it escalates and impacts their brand reputation. Strengthening MAP Policies: Companies should regularly review and update their MAP policies to ensure they are clear, comprehensive, and enforceable. By setting strict guidelines and penalties for violations, brands can deter sellers from engaging in price-cutting strategies. Enforcement: Once a MAP violation is detected, it’s essential for the brand to take swift and decisive action against the non-compliant sellers. This could involve warnings, temporary suspensions, or even terminating partnerships with repeat offenders. By enforcing the policy consistently, the brand demonstrates its commitment to maintaining fair pricing and protecting its image. Identifying Sellers with High and Low ASPs: Apart from focusing solely on MAP violations, brands should also analyse and categorize sellers based on their Average Selling Prices (ASPs). Sellers with significantly high ASPs may indicate potential unauthorized resellers, while those with extremely low ASPs might be engaging in MAP violations. Identifying and addressing such sellers helps in better controlling pricing and brand representation in the market. Establishing Authorized Reseller Programs: Implementing an authorized reseller program can help brands maintain better control over the distribution of their products. By designating specific authorized sellers, brands can ensure that their products are sold through reliable and trustworthy channels, reducing the likelihood of MAP violations. Monitoring and Reporting Tools: Brands can leverage technology and automated tools to monitor online marketplaces, flag potential MAP violations, and generate detailed reports on seller pricing trends. This data-driven approach can provide valuable insights for decision-making and identifying patterns of non-compliance. By taking a proactive and comprehensive approach to MAP policy management, brands can mitigate the risk of the domino effect of MAP violations. This not only protects their brand equity and pricing integrity but also fosters stronger relationships with authorized sellers and customers. Why do brands need to monitor seller performance on e-commerce marketplaces? Brands need to monitor sellers’ performance on eCommerce marketplaces for several important reasons: Brand Reputation Management: The performance of sellers directly impacts the perception of the brand. If customers have a negative experience with a seller, they are likely to associate that negative experience with the brand itself. Monitoring seller performance allows brands to maintain their reputation and ensure that customers have a positive buying experience. Quality Control: Brands often have specific standards and quality requirements for their products. Monitoring seller performance helps ensure that these standards are met consistently, maintaining product quality and customer satisfaction. Customer Experience: Brands want to provide a seamless and positive customer experience across all channels. By monitoring sellers, they can identify and address any issues that might arise, regarding delivery time, customer experience, or product information. Competitive Advantage: Brands usually have multiple sellers selling their products on various eCommerce platforms. By monitoring seller performance, brands can identify high-performing sellers and collaborate more closely with them to gain a competitive advantage. Sales Performance: Monitoring sellers allows brands to track the sales performance of their products and identify trends and opportunities for growth. This data can be used to make informed decisions regarding inventory management, marketing strategies, and expanding product reach. Monitoring the Seller Buy Box Win %: Brands must monitor the Seller Buy Box Win % to ensure marketplace dominance and maintain control over product visibility. This metric reflects which sellers consistently win the Buy Box, impacting

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optimize-category-pages

Why do Brands Need to Optimize Category Pages – Browse Share of Products?

The rules of the game remain the same. Just the battleground gets shifted from the home page to the category page on the eCommerce marketplaces. Brands often pay less heed to what goes on the category page. The key focus area of the brands remains to be getting more discoverable on keywords and optimizing the Product Detail Page (PDP) performance. Yet banners on the home and category pages remain a key focus as brands spend heavily on them and drive most of the purchases. Let’s dig deeper into why category pages are so important and find out why brands need to keep a close eye on the eCommerce banners of their brand and competition. Why Do Brands Need to Monitor Category Pages? Brands need to monitor category pages to make sure their products are present for shoppers looking to shop under a specific category. Most of the online marketplaces on the main category page publish dynamic banners featuring enticing offers and exclusive products. These banners take shoppers to brand-specific pages or the product on the eCommerce platform. It displays what the brand has to offer. Here are a few things that brands need to monitor: Browse share of the brand on category pages: Monitoring the browse share helps brands understand how often their products are being viewed or browsed by customers within a specific category. It provides insights into the brand’s visibility and popularity compared to competitors. By tracking the browse share, brands can identify trends, measure their performance, and make data-driven decisions to improve their market position. Tagging of products: Categories and subcategories serve as organizational structures for products on e-commerce websites. Proper tagging ensures that products are correctly grouped and displayed within relevant categories, making it easier for customers to find what they are looking for. Monitoring the tagging of products helps brands ensure accuracy and consistency, which enhances the overall user experience. It also helps prevent instances where products may be misplaced or hidden within incorrect categories, potentially leading to lost sales opportunities. Category Page Banners: Banners on the category page are the best way for shoppers to get an exclusive look at offers in categories and sub-categories. The offers on the banners lead the shopper to brand a specific collection of products. These banners offer products featuring Blockbuster deals, Top offers, Hottest trends, etc. Perks of Monitoring Category Pages By monitoring category pages, brands can optimize their product placement, identify opportunities for improvement, and enhance discoverability. This, in turn, can positively impact their visibility, conversion rates, and overall customer satisfaction. It also allows shoppers to check out more products from the brands. Let’s elaborate a bit on some of the key perks. Banner Placement Banner placement on the category page is crucial for attracting shoppers’ attention and driving engagement. Ideally, banners should be prominently displayed at the top of the page or in a visually prominent location that ensures shoppers easily notice them. Placing banners strategically, such as above the fold, can increase visibility and click-through rates. Tracking Banner Presence vs Competition When considering banner presence compared to competitors, it’s essential to ensure that your banners stand out and provide a unique value proposition. Analyze what your competitors are doing in terms of banner design, messaging, and offers. Aim to differentiate your banners by offering exclusive deals, showcasing popular products, or highlighting unique selling points that set your brand apart. Promo Offers & Pricing Strategy Promo offers and pricing strategy should be aligned with the objectives of the banner campaign. Determine the specific offers you want to promote through the banners, such as blockbuster deals, top offers, or trending products. Consider competitive pricing strategies, such as discounts, bundles, or limited-time promotions, to entice shoppers to click on the banners and explore the brand-specific collection of products. Automate Banner Performance Monitoring To ensure banner effectiveness, it’s important to monitor their performance regularly. Consider automating this monitoring process via digital commerce intelligence – banner analysis that provides real-time data and insights. Regularly analyze the performance data to identify areas of improvement and make data-driven decisions for optimizing banner performance. Identify Keywords Brands need to identify if banner keywords resonate with their target audience. Search terms and keywords related to the category, sub-categories, and brand must be monitored regularly. Incorporate high-performance relevant keywords into the banner copy, headlines, and calls-to-action to increase visibility. This can improve the chances of your banners appearing in relevant search results. Strategy for Theming Model The theming model for banners on the category page should align with the overall brand identity and the specific theme of the category. Consider factors such as seasonality, trends, or special events when planning the banner themes. Create visually appealing and cohesive designs that match the overall aesthetic of the category page. Additionally, ensure that the theme aligns with the targeted audience’s preferences and interests to maximize engagement and conversions. Final Thoughts The category page on the eCommerce platforms holds value for brands as it puts them face to face with their competitors in terms of promo offers, best best-selling products and takes the interested shopper to their brand-specific page where it may end up buying more from the brand. The core competency that the brand needs here is to optimize banner performance. Monitoring category pages and enhancing the browse share opens the opportunity for brands to take the shopper to an exclusive brand page. Brands need to ensure their brand banners do not get lost among the flurry of banners on the category page. The browse share of the brand needs to be measured across categories, subcategories, and variants.  Contact us to know how your brand can optimize product performance with mFilterIt, digital commerce intelligence.

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expanding-ecommerce-market

Organic Food Products: Expanding eCommerce Market for Value-First Shoppers

The Indian organic food market is expected to reach a staggering $4,602 million by 2028 with growth at a remarkable CAGR of 23.8% during 2023-2028. The need for healthier life choices was realized with an awkward awakening during the global pandemic. The post-pandemic world has woken up to a new way of life ‘The new normal’ where health took the front seat. The changing lifestyle with value-driven spending on products becomes essential in the global Commerce ecosystem in the FMCG market segment. What started almost a decade ago moved with rapid pace across eCommerce platforms at a rapid pace. The plethora of organic brands has flooded the e-commerce landscape led by the digitally native brands (DNB) competing with organic variants of big brands. The fiercely competitive space is heating up. It is basically all about shoppers getting more inclined towards value-first product choices. The Health-Conscious Organic Food eCom Landscape The broader section of tier-1 demographics is now attracted to products that add value to their daily life. The focus is on value-oriented purchases rather than cost. This shift in consumer behavior has widened the organic food section in the digital commerce ecosystem. It’s an exciting transformation phase in the Indian organic food eCommerce market driven by consumer demand for more sustainable and healthier alternatives. eCom Marketplaces has been redefining this market segment, catering to the growing needs of health-conscious consumers and providing a platform for organic brands to flourish. The favorable norms and ample support from the government help Digitally Native Brands grow in the segment. Even FMCG giants like ITC are also moving towards providing organic variants. India’s organic sector is poised for a remarkable future, benefiting consumers and farmers as well. Organic Food & Beverage Industry The e-commerce revolution has provided organic brands and producers with a powerful platform to reach a wider audience and tap into the growing consumer demand. Online stores specializing in organic products have emerged as convenient one-stop destinations for consumers seeking healthy, chemical-free alternatives. These platforms offer an extensive range of organic food, beverages, and household products. The diverse array of organic choices on the brand’s website and eCommerce platforms have made it easy for shoppers to pick these products over non-organic alternatives. According to a report by the IMARC Group, the Indian organic food market reached a value of $1,278 million in 2022. Even more impressive is the projected growth, with estimates suggesting that the market will reach a staggering $4,602 million by 2028, reflecting a remarkable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.8% during 2023-2028. This data underscores the immense potential and promising future of the organic sector in India. The IMARC Group’s report states that the organic food market in India was worth $1,278 million in 2022. The report predicts that the market will grow even more and reach an astonishing $4,602 million by 2028. The staggering growth rate of 23.8% from 2023 to 2028 highlights the potential of the organic industry in India. Rise of Value-First Shoppers One of the perks of organic food balance of quality and pricing. The target is the value-first shoppers. Expanding businesses are generating the need to prefer organic alternatives opening new avenues and exploring demographics in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Invention & innovation are the driving forces behind the rise of organically produced and processed food dominated and promoted by the value-first customers, this segment. The segment is deepening its impact on the eCommerce landscape. The Advantages Indian e-commerce platforms have witnessed significant growth in the organic food category in recent years. The increasing health consciousness among consumers and the demand for chemical-free and environmentally sustainable products have contributed to the popularity of organic food in India. Several major e-commerce platforms in India, such as Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket, and Grofers, offer a diverse range of organic food products. These platforms act as a marketplace where sellers and brands can showcase and sell their organic food items to consumers across the country. For brands, it’s critical to push for sales across the omnichannel digital commerce landscape. This includes organic cereals and grains, pulses and legumes, dairy products, spices, oils, snacks, beverages, and even organic baby food. To ensure the authenticity and quality of organic products, there are certification standards in place like the National Program for Organic Production (NPOP) and the Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS-India). Brands need to highlight this while listing products on eCommerce platforms. What do the Organic brands need to excel on the eCommerce platform? Understanding of the market segment & competition Indian e-commerce platforms have also provided a platform for regional and local organic food brands to reach a wider customer base. These brands often focus on sourcing organic produce from local farmers and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. But doing good is not enough on the eCommerce platform. Brands need to update on market trends with competitive insight and analysis across eCommerce places and geographies to cope with fierce competition among brands. To stay on top of the eCom game brands need to have a clear understanding of the market segment and identify the target customers and white spaces in the segment. Make customers feel valued Customer reviews and ratings play an important role in guiding purchase decisions. Brands need to understand customer sentiments and utilize the insights to cater to their needs and improve brand performance. The Customers’ feedback and experiences with organic food products can help them make informed choices and make them feel valued. Balance of quality and pricing Pricing is a critical part of the organic food segment on the eCommerce platform as they not only compete with other organic brands and product variants but also with the non-organic products in that food & beverage category or sub-category. This makes tracking pricing trends for own brand and competition very important for organic food brands. Brands need to highlight the value of their organic product in their product detail page (PDP) to help make customer purchase decisions based on the value it adds to their daily life.

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competitive-pricing

How Can Competitive Pricing Analysis Boost eCommerce Growth

Things are changing rapidly in the digital commerce arena. A lot of smart, socially conscious, and sustainable D2C startups are entering the fray, each one telling the customers why they need to rethink product choices and buy only the products on offer. While that is the job marketers must do, what they need to remember is that for online shoppers, price is still a key consideration. You might hear that product pricing is no longer relevant, and customers prefer quality over discount now. That might be right for particular cases and luxury commerce products but the comparison of average prices and trying to get products at lower rates is something that always attracts online shoppers. Barring some instances, customers tend to do a thorough pricing comparison to identify the best deals and buy from sellers that offer more suitable prices. That is where the challenge lies. There are new brands entering markets almost every day and it is humanly impossible to keep track of the product pricing of each new player. When you look at a platform like Amazon, chances are that sellers offer a discount that causes variations in the pricing of the same item, and customers would naturally go for the seller that offers the best value. Competitive pricing analysis and smart product pricing is the only way to beat the competition, and for that, digital commerce players need to use digital commerce intelligence tools that enable the monitoring of price trends and facilitate data-driven dynamic pricing. What is Competitive Pricing Analysis? Competitive pricing analysis is the process through which digital commerce brands can undertake competitive analytics of the pricing strategies of their rivals. They can monitor price trends, and choose competition-based pricing. When such pricing strategies are adopted, brands can identify and cover the market gaps by ensuring that they offer discounts or pricing that makes the products more appealing to the customers than the competition. Let’s take a deeper look at some of how competitive pricing analysis can boost eCommerce brand growth across the digital commerce ecosystem. Outpacing the competition: One of the biggest benefits of undertaking pricing analysis is that it enables brands to monitor price trends continuously, and they can base their pricing decision on the prevalent trends. You can sweet spot the pricing and outpace the competition through such smart pricing strategies. Formulating a data-driven pricing strategy: Since competitive pricing analysis empowers brands to monitor market trends, you can use the right competitive analytics tools to understand the price metrics and figure out the best average price for the product. This ensures that the price is neither high enough to discourage the customers nor too low to make you lose out on potential revenue. You also get to identify which products are popular and trending, and which ones are not, and adopt a dynamic pricing strategy to boost sales accordingly. Tracking MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) violations (also called Pricing violations) A study revealed that 50% of the time, unauthorized sellers ignore a brand’s Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) guidelines. These violations adversely affect a brand’s reputation and also reduce profit margins. That is why you need to monitor the minimum advertised price violations. However, it is almost an impossible task manually since there are going to be a large number of products on multiple eCommerce marketplaces. For instance, an authorized seller be selling product A above MAP, but someone else on another portal could be selling it at a 5% lower price. You won’t know it, but will bleed sales and revenue. That is where it is extremely important to use digital product pricing trackers that can identify minimum advertised price violations and enable remedial action by your brand. If a product is sold below the threshold price it could severely hamper brand reputation. Offering Attractive pricing and discounts boosts customer acquisition and retention When you undertake pricing analysis and monitor all pricing trends, you can create pricing strategies that are competitive and attractive. Customers would not only buy from you but keep coming back if they perceive the brand as value-for-money and trustworthy. In the competitive environs, where customer acquisition is getting costlier by the day, and greater lifetime value (LTV) through customer retention is key to growth, this is one advantage you can’t overlook. Conclusion There is no doubt that modern-day consumers are usually more aware, conscious, and better informed than the average brick-and-mortar store customers. However, pricing still holds the key to market dominance and acquiring more customers quickly. By adopting digital pricing analysis tools, you can create pricing strategies that are more profitable, sustainable, and appealing to the target audience. mScanIt, Digital commerce intelligence is the key to expanding the customer base and staying ahead of competitors across the digital commerce landscape. Get in touch to learn more about pricing analysis.

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omnichannel-commerce–gateway

Omnichannel Commerce – Gateway to The Open Internet Sales

Gone are the days when customers were solely reliant on shop visits or logging into their desktops to do online shopping. Today’s customers are making purchases while in bed (43%), at work (23%), during their commute or even from the bathroom (20%), and almost at any hour of the day from their smartphones. Therefore, it is clear that for any retail brand especially in the eCommerce domain, growth lies in building an omnichannel eCommerce presence. What is Omnichannel eCommerce? Omnichannel retail is an integrated sales approach that puts customers first. Unlike the conventional practice of using marketing tactics to draw customers to a specific website, omnichannel retail integrates websites, smartphone apps, social commerce, eCommerce marketplaces, and even physical retail outlets to reach customers wherever they are whenever they need the type of products and services that the brands offer. In omnichannel retail, the different platforms don’t operate in silos, but everything gets seamlessly integrated to optimize the customer experience. Thus, building an effective omnichannel presence requires the elimination of the boundaries between different sales channels and allows customers to make the purchase through whichever touchpoint they are on. Why should brands go for Omnichannel eCommerce? It helps brands reach new customer segments – Customer preferences are rapidly changing and today, different categories of online shoppers have emerged. Despite the fluidity, there are a lot of customers who relish sticking to their preferred mode of shopping only. For instance, the millennials and Gen Z use smartphone apps to make purchases, and shopping through social media platforms like Instagram and even WhatsApp is gaining popularity among Gen Z. There are some who love to shop on eCommerce platforms as they offer massive varieties and price options, whereas others prefer brand websites as they are more concerned about the genuineness of the product than anything else. With the Omnichannel approach, brands can get all customers. Seamless Purchase – Omnichannel retail significantly reduces the risk of cart abandonment which was common in the era when shopping was done only through websites. Customers may add a product to the cart on a website and might want to purchase it hours later through the web app while commuting back home. Omnichannel retail helps convert such variable scenarios seamlessly. The customers get a hassle-free and consistent experience despite switching mediums. It also boosts customer loyalty. Better sales – The convenience of shopping through omnichannel eCommerce is helping brands acquire more customers at a faster clip from multiple sales channels. The customer being able to make a purchase when and where they see it opens up new revenue streams. Live commerce, social commerce, and eCommerce retail stores or brand online store are all new shopping avenues leading to more sales and enhancing brand visibility. This speed and convenience for the customers are also helping the brands and retailers increase cart size. Thus, there is a great boost to the sales. Future of Omnichannel eCommerce The era of Social Commerce – India is right at the cusp of a social commerce boom. Tier 2, Tier 3, and beyond shoppers are the biggest adopters, and recommendation-based, suggestion-based purchases are major drivers for brands in these areas that house nearly 70% of India’s population. It is estimated that the social commerce market size is going to grow from $8,258.8 million in 2022 to over $143,583 million by 2028. Brands in the fashion, beauty, and personal care domains are getting a lot of growth through the social commerce space, and even electronics and gadgets are witnessing a rise in shopping volumes. With the constant increase in smartphone penetration and better internet speeds, this space is unmissable for any retail business today. Live commerce Live commerce, as the term indicates is a sales channel wherein live streams are held, and customers can purchase products in real time. It is different from teleshopping because as a customer you are not watching pre-recorded content and are not bugged to make a call. You can simply watch a live stream on a social media platform, eCommerce, or live-commerce platforms, engage with the brands, enjoy the entertainment, and click on ‘buy now’ to complete seamless purchases, just the way you do on an eCommerce marketplace app. It is a new shopping avenue that is being explored by large and small brands alike. A RedSeer report estimates that live-commerce sales will grow up to $5 billion in India by 2025. Brands don’t see Live commerce as just a sales channel, but also an excellent medium of customer engagement and influencer marketing. You may see a great product in a live stream, and even if you don’t buy it then and there, you might research and purchase it later through other eCommerce options. SUGAR Cosmetics has already participated in such sessions on Myntra and Nykaa and got encouraging results. Going forward, the fashion segment is expected to achieve 60-70% live commerce growth, Beauty and personal care and other segments would make up for the remaining 30-40%. Visibility generation through such activities includes the launch of Hero MotoCorp’s Hero Xtreme 160R Stealth 2.0 bike and the session had a viewership of over 2.6 lakh. Several other Indian brands are also leveraging Live commerce sessions on eCommerce platforms. Role of social media Influencers in social and live commerce Social media influencers play a critical role in this arena. Influencers are people trusted by shoppers from all over the country, especially the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. When they are integrated into live commerce or social commerce campaigns, users get a personalized and familiar experience which boosts chances of conversion. The influencers are content creators with whom regular social media users engage on a one-to-one basis. Most of them conduct meetups, and live-streams to build engagement and trust among the audience. Thus, when these influencers recommend a product, those followers who are actively looking for such products are most likely to seriously consider the recommendations and make purchases. Influencer marketing is also highly instrumental in driving awareness. For instance, Amazon unveiled its live

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brand-sentiment

BRAND SENTIMENT: Do You Know Who Is Saying What, Where & Why?

Listen To Everything Said About Brands and Products Across social media eCom Platform “Kuch toh log kahege, logo ka kaam hai kehna!” (People will always have opinions, this is what they do) but the voice of an eCom shopper cannot be left unheard or dismissed as useless chatter. Opinions and experiences of shoppers matter when it comes to the digital commerce ecosystem. Brands must be aware of every single word said about them be it customer reviews, shoppers queries, lashing-out tweets, gentle words of appreciation, or simple suggestions.  Every sentiment needs to be monitored and analyzed as it deeply affects brand reputation. But why? The answer to this why” is a little complicated but here we are going to simplify the brand sentiment what it means and its impact on the brand. Building brand reputation is a continuous extensive process that comprises multiple factors. Brand messaging is one such factor that drives brand sentiment. So, Let’s dig deeper and find out why it matters so much. According to a survey, 76% of customers claim they would quit a business that fails to respond to a negative social media post while 82% of customers expect brands to respond to their social media posts within 24 hours. The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Brands must be aware of every kind of sentiment about their products and brands. Evaluating Brand sentiment is critical for brand health and the reputation of the business. Let’s presume a case where a customer got a wrong color item or some part or accessory is missing, leaves a negative review, marks for return or replacement along with venting out on social media.  Just imagine what an unresolved tweet can do to a brand’s reputation. This makes social listening and quick follow-up critical to brand reputation. The digital commerce landscape is cut-throat and competitive It’s not just about social media conversation and customer sentiment about brands but even cross-platform conversation also needs to be monitored. Brand sentiment also covers understanding and analyzing what people feel about their interactions. Brands must carefully monitor this dynamic and enhance those aspects that leave a positive impact and enhance customer experience! How people feel about your business or product can have a huge impact on product sales, brand loyalty, and customer retention. Lend Your Ears Are You Listening? The most powerful element in building a brand reputation is word of mouth the experience leads to voices, and voices turn into opinions. These opinions shape the buzz about the brand. For example, let’s consider the case of TATA Nano, a pocket-friendly car with a budget of the middle class that faced a major bump in the market as it got labeled as a cheap car. It is important to ensure what the brand wants to convey about the product matches the target audience’s interpretation. Brands need to pay attention to what people are saying. Being aware of how the brands are responding is crucial to product performance in the market. Brands need to stay alert in real time to track sentiments across the digital ecosystem. This includes understanding. Context and tone of sentiment Subjectivity of sentiment Change in sentiment over time Source of sentiment Understanding sentiments will help brands categorize sentiments and grade them accordingly. Brands need to keep track of word-of-mouth mentions and respond accordingly. Perks Of Tracking Brand Sentiments Tracking brand sentiment is like social listening crisis management under one roof. According to a survey, 88% of people look for opinions online before making a purchase. Finding your brand mentions and making your presence felt is an important step toward upswinging brand digital efficiency. Turn the insights into action by monitoring and analyzing brand sentiments across the digital ecosystem. Here are some core benefits of being aware of brand sentiments: Improved Customer Satisfaction Respond swiftly to Customer feedback Ensure customer retention making customer opinion/experience feel valued Understand the target customer and what makes customers happy Understand your industry segment Identify threats or opportunities Improve marketing strategies Data Driven decision making What Brands Should Do To Improve Brand Sentiment? The reputation built by positive words about the brand or product is what propels sales and helps acquire new customers most organically. The way brand sentiment shapes up decides the fate of the product. The challenge lies in identifying sentiments and responding to them swiftly as the more time negative feedback is spent in the digital landscape the more damage it does to brand reputation. So, what can the brands do about it? Relentless Monitoring The digital space keeps on evolving at a rapid pace. The monitoring and analysis process should be relentless and continuous to keep up it. A comprehensive system should be in place for automated sentiment monitoring with actionable insights to support data-driven decisions. Swift Response Make sure customers feel valued. Personalized responses to negative feedback will go a long way in building brand trust and loyalty. This will help the brand handle the problem before it turns into a crisis. Make strategies more adaptable The strategies that can turn a crisis into opportunities. Understand customer sentiment and respond accordingly. Never miss a conversation about your brand monitor Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, News, Blogs, and the entire world wide Web including the eCommerce marketplace customer feedback reviews and QAs. Track every social channel Join conversations about your brand Keep an eye on the competition Manage your reputation online Final Thoughts Be Sensitive to Sentiments ‘Whats in a name? In the digital commerce landscape everything. As any mention of brand or product name matters. Brand sentiment plays a pivotal role in building brand reputation and value across the digital ecosystem and beyond. Social Listening, digital commerce intelligence with sentiment analysis, and optimizing customer experience are the core digital efficiencies that every brand should strive for in the digital landscape. Omnichannel Shopping including Live Social commerce and expanding geographical outreach of digital commerce retail is opening up new avenues for shoppers. Now shopping has become more interactive where shoppers can directly engage with the sellers or brands. Knowing

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ecom-marketing-service

eCom Platform Marketing Service: “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Yes, you read it right. But we are not going to talk about an Oscar-winning movie. It is about a complete Marketing console in one place, eCommerce Platform Marketing Services like what Amazon provides for its sellers. The eCommerce giant Amazon has expanded and enhanced the services for its shoppers and sellers alike. The integrated comprehensive marketing console, Amazon Marketing Service (AMS), helps Seller control and monitor how the product does on the platform and organize what it needs to boost performance. The collection for several Amazon services for sellers, AMS has tools for Amazon Sponsored Brands, Amazon Sponsored product management, and Amazon Display Ads. But the question is – Is it enough for the brands and sellers?1 Let’s take a deeper look at the platform marketing services and highlight ways to optimize services like AMS. What does AMS do? Why does it need optimization? While all other eCommerce platforms are evolving in terms of Advertising Services provided, Amazon is leading or could say dominating in it. The massive presence of Amazon in the eCommerce Retail domain led to the rise of a fiercely ecommerce competitive landscape. As a brand, business, or seller here you are running against thousands of others running a race against every evolving algorithm. To stand apart and reap high profits, brands need to advertise with a clear understanding of segments and competition. Platform Marketing Services like AMS Provides Complete Amazon Advertising Console Support for Amazon Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brand Ads, and Amazon Sponsored Displays. The competition is fierce in a global marketplace like Amazon. Most online advertising platforms allow you to pay for impressions and clicks but Amazon takes a different approach. As it provides an option to choose how much you want to pay when a shopper clicks on the ads. This provides hands-on control over the ad budget. This also impacts the conversion rates based on the strong purchasing intent of the audience. They also streamline it to provide advertising reports. They may not be the best ones to get deeper insights into customers’ search patterns, but they are extremely useful to understand what works for you and what doesn’t. This created the need for optimization of marketing services provided by the platform to save time and money along with enhancing brand recognition. Challenges for Sellers using Amazon Marketing Service No Visibility of High-Performing Keywords​: Identifying high-performing keywords plays an essential role in making effective campaigns and efficient product display pages. Building a comprehensive keyword bidding strategy is key to the upscale product. Brands or Sellers must be aware of high-performing keywords that work or don’t work. Time-consuming and prone to manual errors: The need for an auto-generated response is key to reducing the time consumed and mitigating errors caused by manual entries. Tracking performance and managing optimizations can lead to greater achievements. No Standardized Automated Process: Standardized processes are needed to avoid hit & trail elements like keywords bidding. High returns are expected if the standard processes and data-driven decisions are used for AMS. Missed Opportunities with Uncertain Returns​: Ambiguous returns of advertising campaigns need to be consolidated and sustained with a clear process in place to boost advertising performance. Perks Of Platform Marketing Service Optimization Optimize Ad Campaign- Reduce Ad Spend Optimization of Platform Marketing Services empowers eCommerce Platform Advertising Campaigns. Full-fledged coverage is provided from setting up your different Ad Campaigns (Own, Competition, Generic) and managing your budget in Ad Groups via AI-based Automated System. Advanced Automated Solution raises your advertising game Crystal Clear Data for better understanding to drive overall sales Business decisions driven via actionable insights lead to sustained growth Saves hours of manual work by bypassing Amazon Advertising complexities 1. AI-driven marketing Optimization Amazon Advertising Campaigns gets a boost through AI & ML, keeps track of the performance of the keywords and help adjusts your campaign budget to maximize your Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). The sophisticated AI is used to automatically turn competitor keyword bidding ON/OFF depending on the stock availability of the competitor. Completely Automated Process Product code Bidding Keyword Bidding Comprehensive Budget Planning 2. Continuous Optimization of Keywords Identifying and monitoring keywords should be a continuous process as the bids need to be optimized according to the keyword performance change. The use of AI can turn on/off bids on keywords, based on Keyword performance. The campaign performance can be optimized by bidding on high-performing keywords. Brands or sellers need to be aware of keyword performance on a real-time basis to optimize the campaign and avoid waste of ad spending. The Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) can be optimized with an automated process in place. 3. Effectively Optimizing Ad Budget Platform Marketing Service Optimization boosts campaign performance not just by optimizing Campaign Spends and deciding what amount to spend but also how and when to spend it. The click and traffic analysis can help generate automated bid prices and empower budget shuffle across multiple ad campaigns for optimal ad spend utilization. 4.  Adding Value to Brands The optimization of advertising services raises the brand’s advertising game. Plugging in automated solutions for optimization can add value to the services. Improvement in ROAS and Conversion Rate is a key value addition to the brand performance with data-driven decision-making. The automation of the process reduces advertising complexities and saves several hours of manual work. Final Thoughts Marketing on eCommerce platforms has eased with comprehensive marketing services provided by the platform but that’s too much manual work considering the massive number of products and wide geography to cover. The Optimization of platform marketing services automate systems and reduce ad budget by making ad campaign more effective. mScanIt eCommerce Platform optimization tool can help guide brands or sellers to automate and optimize advertising strategies on the eCommerce platforms. With the pace at which advertising is evolving, it’s important to get hold of things swiftly as any lag in strategy can push back your brand way behind other sellers or brands. The digital commerce universe is so much bigger than you realize. Brands need to gear up with the

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boost-engagement

How to Boost Engagement with Content Recommendations & Analysis?

According to a survey, 87% of online customers said good product descriptions do influence purchase decisions. It often said visuals grab attention better than text. But what next? Once you get the shopper attention with a high-quality picture, product titles must clearly and quickly convey exactly what you’re selling, and then comes the description once your product gets discovered by the shopper. The hardest part of listing an item on e-marketplaces is setting the perfect product description to ensure visibility to the targeted customers. Finding the right words to define your product is quite a task. Let find out how brands and sellers ease this process with content recommendations and analysis and bring in more engagement and sales conversions. Product visibility on eCommerce platforms Brands need to be on their toes while listing products on digital commerce platforms. The competition is fierce, and shoppers have a shorter attention span. Brands and sellers must quickly engage shoppers with an attractive title and engaging description. High-quality A+ content with images and videos is critical to making a purchase decision. Brands can improve their organic search ranking by enhancing or let say refining the product description, with high-performing keywords and exponentially enriching the reach of their category page. 87% of online customers said good product descriptions influence their purchasing decisions Source: Salsify Survey Role of Content in the purchase decision – Content plays a vital role in shoppers making a purchase decision. Understanding the needs of the customers can help in putting up the right content recommendation. Brands and sellers need to focus on generating good content that connects with the audience. Influencing customers is a critical business goal that can be fulfilled via – Establish a lasting connection Providing relevant and useful information Building a sense of trust among customers Building a brand reputation as a market leader and an expert Being open to customer engagement Challenges in setting up the perfect Product Display Page (PDP) content There are several challenges in setting the right content for a product display page on an eCommerce platform. Some of these challenges include: Balancing the amount of information: It’s important to provide enough information about the product to help the customer make an informed decision, but too much information can overwhelm them. Finding the right balance can be tricky. Highlighting the most important and most relevant features: Customers want to know the key features of a product, but what’s important to one customer might not be important to another. It’s important to identify the most important features and highlight them prominently. Providing accurate and up-to-date information in bullet form: Customers rely on the information provided on product pages to make purchasing decisions. Providing inaccurate or outdated information can lead to unhappy customers and a rise in product returns. Use bullet points to convey information. Optimizing for search: Product pages need to be optimized for search engines to ensure they appear in relevant search results. This requires carefully choosing high-performance and relevant keywords and ensuring that the page complies with search guidelines. Creating engaging content: Product pages that are engaging and visually appealing are more likely to hold a customer’s attention and lead to a purchase. This can be a challenge, particularly when dealing with products that are difficult to photograph or describe. Consistency across product pages: It’s important to maintain a consistent look and feel across all product pages to ensure a seamless user experience. This can be a challenge when dealing with a large number of products or when different vendors are involved. It’s important to keep the customer’s needs in mind and to strive for consistency across all product pages. Why do brands need auto-generated content recommendation and analysis? The massive range of products listed across the eCommerce platform requires AI and ML to drive content that optimizes product performance by including SEO high-performing keywords and creating content that suits platform compliance. Brands need to move beyond manual content and switch to auto-generated content recommendations to optimize titles, descriptions, description bullets, images, and video scores. The Amazon Pi integration allows content recommendation analysis tools to fetch content and optimize overall content scores. Refines content to adhere to platform compliance guidelines. Save time in generating new content or correcting old content Identify gaps in the title & description text, and images & video content Include high-performance keywords to boost product Share of Voice across digital commerce platforms Final Thoughts – What should brands do? The manual process of refining Product display page content is neither cost-effective nor feasible for brands with a wide range of products under various categories and sub-categories across multiple eCommerce and Quick Commerce platforms. Brands need to move forward with advanced content recommendations analysis with ecommerce competitive analysis. Optimize PDP with Auto-generated content recommendations to set the right content theme that defines the product and boost product visibility with multiple content suggestions on PDPs. The brands should focus on achieving brand goals to push for more conversions with the perfect title and description and ensure your content suit every parameter defined across the eCommerce marketplaces. Comparing your product PDPs vs competition and understanding the gaps while ensuring all Government norms/ platform guidelines are met before publishing the PDP is critical to brand reputation and discoverability across the eCommerce and Quick Commerce platforms. Get in touch with our experts for deeper insights. Reach out to learn more!

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