Nowadays, the battle for consumers’ attention has shifted from the tangible aisles of brick-and-mortar stores to virtual shelves of online marketplaces.
The retail landscape has changed dramatically since the end of the pandemic. Online grocery sales CAGR from 2018 to 2023 is estimated to increase by 33.1% according to Incisiv, a leader in retail benchmarking. While offline grocery sales have remained stagnant, growing just under a CAGR of 1%. Brands understanding this are posed to dominate their category.
Modern shopping behaviors have shifted; consumers are still leisurely strolling through physical aisles, discovering new products and reading labels, but with the rise of last-mile grocery delivery, consumers see the value in saving 1-2 hours per grocery trip.
Consumers have now become accustomed to shopping for groceries by scrolling, clicking, and swiping their way through an endless digital storefront, making split-second decisions on which products to explore further and which to bypass
If you’re a brand or retailer, understanding how to showcase your products effectively on the digital shelf is no longer a luxury—it’s an absolute necessity. Keep reading on to discover key strategies, insights, and actionable strategies to ensure your products don’t get lost in a sea of search results, but instead stand out against your competitors, engage people, and convert clicks into customers.
What is the Digital Shelf?
When it comes to retail media, the digital shelf is the most important driving force in getting your product in front of the eyes of consumers—but what exactly does it mean? Simply put, a digital shelf refers to how a brand’s products are presented online or the digital counterpart of the physical shelves we see in traditional stores.
In brick-and-mortar environments, shoppers leisurely walk the aisles, touching and evaluating items before purchasing them. These shelves are carefully curated, delicately organized, and strategically designed to catch the consumer’s eye and encourage those key purchases.
Understanding and leveraging the digital shelf is essential for success in an age of digital transformation. As online grocery becomes the preferred shopping avenue for a growing number of consumers, the digital shelf isn’t simply a theory or a concept; it’s the very real future of commerce as we know it.
The Critical Value of the Digital Shelf
So why is the digital shelf so important for CPG brands in today’s commercial landscape? Well, its primary value lies in timing.
The digital shelf engages consumers precisely when they’re researching or considering a purchase. This timely interaction allows brands to present their products and relay their message at the most impactful juncture.
Moreover, securing a noticeable presence on search results or dedicated product pages enhances brand discovery. When combined with compelling relevant content, it not only propels unit velocity but broadens brand recognition, reaching even those previously unfamiliar with the brand. But the influence of the digital shelf isn’t confined to the online world. Its impact spills over into physical retail spaces.
Consider this: research indicates that a majority of in-store shoppers actively utilize their smartphones as they shop. Interestingly, almost 70% of users would opt to read a product review on their chosen device rather than ask someone in the store for assistance, suggesting that the digital shelf serves as an immediate and trusted resource, even within the four walls of a physical store.
Simply put, the digital shelf isn’t just a platform for displaying your products; it’s an essential tool that connects brands and consumers in both digital and physical domains, and for brands striving to remain relevant and competitive, tapping into its potential is imperative.
Key Strategies for Dominating the Digital Shelf
Utilize Retail Media Platforms
Retail Media Platforms is an important type of digital advertising that’s the main driver in dominating the digital self that focuses on promoting products available on popular online retailers like Whole Foods Market, Target, Walmart, Kroger, and many others. It involves paying for prime ad placements, including sponsored product listings, display ads, and video ads, that target specific audiences based on their search queries, purchase history, and overall shopping behavior.
This approach allows advertisers to monitor important real-time performance metrics, such as units sold, generated sales, impressions, and clicks, among others. This data helps them gain valuable insights into consumer behavior and trends, which can often lead to better-informed marketing and sales efforts, ultimately leading to door expansion.
Amplify In-Store Promotions Online
Traditionally, temporary price reductions or TPRs were a common mainstay in physical stores, acting as an effective way to help attract on-site customers by temporarily lowering the prices of certain products. However, in a nod to the increasing importance of online shopping, most retailers have now begun syndicating these TPRs in their online storefronts as well.
This transition to digital platforms means that when a product is sponsored in an online advertisement, leading it to appear at the top of a webpage or a search result, the TPR is showcased alongside it, dramatically increasing conversion rates and promotional awareness both online and in-store.
Elevate Your Products’ Visibility
Nearly half of online shoppers don’t venture beyond the second page of search results, with a significant amount of click-throughs occurring on the initial page. So, how can you ensure your product stays at the forefront?
Detailed product listings, enriched with relevant keywords, can help increase your products’ organic search ranking to the top of page one during relevant searches across retailer sites. Organic search rank algorithms vary from retailer site to retailer site, but keywords and daily sales are priority data indicators that can help increase your organic search ranking.
Understanding Brand Blocking
Picture your local supermarket aisle: the most sought-after products are placed at eye level, right where you can spot them instantly. Here, brands strategically position multiple SKUs in a row, ensuring that their offerings capture your attention—this is the essence of the physical shelf, where placement and visibility help establish retail dominance.
Now, let’s imagine this same scene in the digital space; here, the digital shelf operates on the same principles, but instead of having our brand be at eye level in a store, we have our products at the top of search results. The goal here is to take up as much digital real estate with paid and organic search results while pushing down our competitors to the bottom of the page.
The underlying concept here is known as brand blocking, which is about ensuring multiple products or listings from the same brand appear consecutively in online searches, similar to how companies stock their products together on store shelves. The aim here remains the same: to catch the eye of the consumer, to stand out amidst the clutter, and ultimately, increase their conversion rate to sell out of inventory.
Prioritize Customer Reviews
A staggering 91% of buyers read online reviews, trusting them as much as personal recommendations in some instances. Simply put, a well-timed batch of positive reviews can really help skyrocket your conversion rate.
Encourage reviews through email campaigns, packaging inserts, or investing in programs like PowerReviews, which syndicate your online reviews into your retail product listings. Actively monitor and address negative feedback if possible, making necessary adjustments to product descriptions or other facets as needed.
Fine-tune Product Descriptions
Ensure that all of your descriptions are clear, accurate, and devoid of any complicated technical jargon. Comprehensive information, from materials to dimensions, can bridge the gap created by the inability to physically inspect products online.
Because of this, try to adjust your product descriptions based on frequent keyword queries and ensure consistency in your copy across different platforms. Platforms, although expensive, like Syndigo can ensure that your digital presence is consistent across many online retailers.
Dominating the Digital Shelf
The shift from physical to digital shopping, accelerated by the pandemic, has dramatically transformed consumer habits.
The digital shelf, mirroring the physical shelves in brick-and-mortar stores, becomes a critical battleground for capturing consumer attention. In this hyper-competitive and constantly evolving ecommerce landscape, it’s clear that dominating the digital shelf is more important than ever.
The importance of the digital shelf stems from its ability to engage consumers at the crucial moment of their purchasing decision. It’s a dynamic platform that blends the convenience of online shopping with the immersive experience of in-store browsing.
With the right digital tools and strategies at your disposal, brands can easily propel their products to the top of search results to ensure that they’re the first product a customer sees when looking for a particular category. This actively helps enhance product discoverability while directly amplifying your units sold; therefore boosting your retail sales velocity.
Some key strategies to help companies to dominate the digital shelf include things like leveraging RMPs for targeted advertising, amplifying in-store promotions online, enhancing product visibility through search engine optimization, and understanding and employing brand blocking to maximize digital real estate.
On top of this, companies should prioritize customer reviews to help them build trust and credibility and also carefully fine-tune their product descriptions for clarity and appeal. These essential strategies and tactics go beyond gaining visibility—they help create meaningful connections with consumers in both digital and physical retail spaces.
As consumer behaviors continue to shift and evolve over time, mastering the digital shelf isn’t just a strategy for growth—it’s an absolute necessity for survival and success in the modern retail landscape.
