Are you looking for new ways to reach consumers in uncertain times? Most e-commerce companies are.
While categories like electronics and health are seeing a surge in sales, others are trending downward. And since there’s no way to know which products or channels are going to perform best in the weeks and months to come, many brands and retailers are exploring options for meeting the needs of shoppers as they buy more online.
We’ve already shared resources you can use to adapt your advertising and diversify your marketplace presence. But have you revisited your direct-to-consumer strategies yet?
Earlier this year, one ChannelAdvisor customer leveraging Where to Buy reported a positive impact on both retailer relationships and overall revenue. We thought you’d like to hear about this brand’s unique success story for a little inspiration.
The Problem: A Dead-End in the Path to Purchase
If you’ve ever tackled a DIY project, there’s a very good chance you’ve used products manufactured by Techtronic Industries. This manufacturer is behind multiple brands of much-loved power tools and outdoor equipment. From screwdrivers to circular saws, TTI product lines are used around the world to build, repair, create and maintain.
With over 30,000 employees empowering $7 billion in annual sales, the company’s success can be attributed in part to its comprehensive e-commerce sites.
When the websites for brands such as RYOBI and AEG were revamped, a lot of thought went into optimizing them for the consumer experience. The navigation was intuitive, categories were easy to browse and product pages were filled with images and details designed to help consumers move further down the path to purchase. Every last section was grounded in research to ensure all shopper needs were met.
“This is especially important for consumers who are new to DIY,” Pinkky Bhatia said during a recent interview with ChannelAdvisor. As TTI’s Head of Digital (Consumer), Bhatia was seeing just how important those websites had become to consumers. “They’d arrive on the site with an idea of what they wanted to accomplish but didn’t yet know which tools they’d need or how to go about finding the right equipment. When someone comes with a problem, we direct them to the relevant products in a nicely categorized way, and with just the right amount of specs so as not to be intimidating.”
There was just one complication.
While TTI had provided a wealth of information to help guide buying decisions on its websites, that’s where the interaction ended. Once a consumer decided which products to buy, it was up to them to figure out where to buy them.
Bhatia figured there had to be a better way.
Because the RYOBI and AEG brands both rely heavily on exclusive retailer relationships, the company needed to get accurate, up-to-date store information in the hands of consumers.
“We were investing time and money in getting people onto the website and solving their problems,” Bhatia said. “It was really important for us to give them all of the information they needed, and to have a better possibility for conversion.”
The Fix: Telling Consumers Where to Buy
Today, when a shopper lands on an RYOBI or AEG product page, clicking the “buy now” button takes them deeper into details they can use to make a fast decision. Nearby store inventory and pricing details are available, along with hours and contact information. So even if the retailer isn’t allowing in-store traffic, shoppers can easily call and coordinate a purchase of the exact items they need.
The reason? ChannelAdvisor Where to Buy.
This solution integrates directly into TTI’s websites to show shoppers up-to-date information from preferred retailers. It empowers consumers with the details they need to make immediate buying decisions, right down to which nearby stores have an item in stock and exactly how much it will cost.
“ChannelAdvisor Where to Buy not only gives us all of the information required to help current customers make a decision on conversion,” Bhatia said of the solution. “It’s allowing us to scale and future-proof the business, too.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Helen Vieira de Souza
Helen is a results-driven marketing professional with extensive multi-geography and multi-cultural experience. She currently works as a Marketing manager at ChannelAdvisor, a leading e-commerce cloud platform, where she her global marketing skills in event management, demand generation and marketing communications to drive awareness, generate leads and contribute to the bottom line.