What is Shoppability?
In today’s state of ecommerce, the purchase funnel is shorter than ever — thanks to shoppability. Consumers can easily convert on a moment of inspiration in a matter of seconds. Digital experiences are now synonymous with shoppable ones. Tech-savvy consumers are not only accustomed to making purchases online but now expect commerce-enablement along the digital path to purchase. The ability to shop from a digital touchpoint, however, is not the same as true shoppability — and the difference can make a big impact on sales.
In this post, we’ll define true shoppability and highlight examples of how it’s used in business today, ultimately distilling best practices for getting started.
Defining True Shoppability
True shoppability is more than just a commerce-enabled marketing activation; it is the ability to successfully add products to retailer baskets and move consumers down the purchase funnel. Sure, features like a “Shop Now” button on an Instagram post or the “Buy Now" call-to-action on a display ad are conversion-driving tactics and anchors of shoppability’s evolution. But if those activations drive to a product description page or search results page on a retailer’s site, too much room is left for consumers to drop off.
Today’s consumer expects to shop directly from experiences or advertisements without missing a beat — meaning the product must be added directly to cart. This helps brands successfully shorten the funnel and reduce friction for consumers.
Benefits of True Shoppability
Now that we’ve established that not all shoppable tech is created equal, we can dig into the benefits of true shoppability. Sure, it provides a positive experience for the consumer, but it offers immense value to brands as well.
True shoppability enables brands to collect data on low-funnel actions, like add-to-carts. These consumer insights are both highly valuable and actionable, enabling brands to optimize campaigns towards conversions. “Shoppable” activations that simply drive to a product description page only provide high-level metrics; it’s difficult to optimize a campaign solely off of clicks.
Priority metrics like add-to-carts are secured through direct API-based integrations with retailers — not via third-party solutions. The direct relationship allows brands to activate single or multiple retailers and ensure their product is seamlessly added to cart.
Lastly, true shoppability is about more than sending your product to cart. It’s about building baskets and providing solutions for the consumer. Introducing your chicken product with relevant sides as a ‘solution’ to the daily question ‘what's for dinner?’ is more effective than simply sending chicken breast to cart at a single retailer. Strategically sending your product to cart alongside other relevant ingredients both increases cart value and introduces new use cases.
Best Practices for Shoppability
Looking to build out your company’s shoppability strategy? Here are some best practices to implement to get started.
First, identify where your high-intent audience is online. Unlike traditional behavioral advertising, now threatened by the dissolution of third-party cookies, shoppable advertising should be contextually targeted to where your audience is already browsing online or is in a planning mindset. The strategy is clearly effective, as advertising within highly relevant environments is the backbone of the recent boom in retail media networks.
RMNs bring shoppability to consumers that have already reached the retailer site and enable brands to advertise within a low-funnel environment. However, this leaves room for an off-platform solution to help capture new and lapsed shoppers. By layering true shoppability onto off-platform activations, i.e. enabling contextual commerce, brands can win sales, drive customer loyalty and gain insights into what delights their core consumer. For CPG brands, consider which contexts make sense for inspiring food purchases — like cooking videos, influencer sites, and digital recipes.
Second, strategically layer shoppability onto media, but not all media. Enabling shoppability for every single ad across every platform without a contextual commerce strategy is a wasted investment. Consider which media reaches consumers when they are most primed to make a purchase.
Lastly, remember to encourage full-basket solutions, not single-item purchases — especially for CPG brands.
“Grocery shopping is “solutions” shopping. Ask anyone who is grocery shopping what they are buying and it’s not “hot dogs, buns, lighter fluid and charcoal,” it’s items “to cook a summer barbecue” or it’s “Monday and Wednesday night dinner.” It’s not about what the individual items that comprise the basket are — it’s about what those individual items create.” — Yuni Sameshima, Co-Founder and CEO of Chicory, in Forbes
By reframing shoppability as “solutions” shopping, CPG brands can build out campaigns that resonate with head of household shoppers and inspire a full-basket purchase. The results don’t lie, relevant advertising that is commerce-enabled is a welcome help along the consumer’s digital path to purchase.
If you’re ready to incorporate shoppability into your brand’s marketing plan, give us a shout. Chicory’s contextual commerce approach combines contextual advertising with shoppable tech — driving sales for the world’s leading CPG brands and retailers.