Optimize organic product rankings to boost sales & stretch your retail media budget

According to Forrester, by 2028, US online retail sales are projected to hit $1.6 trillion—representing 28% of total retail sales. Not to mention, Amazon Storefronts is now showcasing over 2.5 million products from around 30,000 businesses, with no signs of slowing.

The growing demand for products online makes competing for customers more difficult than ever, especially as the market becomes more and more saturated – and finding your products on an endless digital shelf becomes increasingly complex.

To stay top of mind (and at the top of search results), today’s brands must invest in a purposeful approach to search engine optimization (SEO), so they can meet shoppers where they are, simplify the buyer journey and win more sales at every retailer.

More retail media bang for your buck: Why SEO matters for growing brands

Unlike ads, which stop driving traffic to your products once your budget is gone, effective SEO drives targeted traffic that can grow over time and contribute to incremental ad strategies—making it a crucial investment to:

• Increase product discovery: High-ranking keywords help get your products to the top of organic search results, where new customers can easily find you.
• Keep the customers you already have: SEO makes your products easy to find, so shoppers who already know what they want can quickly locate and purchase what they need.
• Provide a better customer experience for higher conversions: Engaging and compliant content on the digital shelf improves your SEO—helping customers easily make informed purchases to increase your conversion rates.
• Stretch your retail media budget & win incremental sales: Instead of spending ad dollars for clicks from customers who already know they want to purchase your products, you can focus your ad dollars on shoppers who aren’t sure what they’re looking for—and win new customers for your brand.  

A solid retail SEO strategy provides continuous conversion from your regular customers (for free), so your ad budget can work to attract new fans of your brand.

DSA: The fastest way to the top of retail media search results

The factors that contribute to your product’s organic search ranking can include everything from product titles to on-page content, images, metadata, ratings & reviews and URLs. And once a brand secures a high organic ranking by optimizing a product across those areas, it can sustain that position on retail media platforms to consistently attract customers.

With Digital Shelf Analytics (DSA) in place, brands can simplify the process of managing and maintaining this level of SEO to ensure products remain at the top of search results across the digital shelf—freeing them up to concentrate on achieving sales goals through other avenues, such as driving incrementality.

Ready to optimize your retail SEO with digital shelf analytics and boost performance across the digital shelf? This checklist will help you get started.

Your retail SEO strategy checklist

✔️ Define your retail SEO goals

Whether your goal is to boost conversions, enhance sales or gain share of search with SEO, the first step is to define the metrics you’ll track to measure success.

1. Begin by monitoring these metrics with daily insights from your DSA to identify optimization opportunities.
2. These insights should then inform your PIM strategy, including the updating and syndication of key product content and keywords across major retailers.

✔️ Create a compelling brand story

Leverage relevant keywords and create immersive content experiences using your PIM to distribute engaging material.

1. Static images and minimal text alone won't drive sales; instead, utilize image carousels, videos, and comparison charts to keep shoppers engaged and more likely to add items to their carts.
2. Use your DSA to monitor competitor strategies and refine your content testing within your PIM based on these insights.

✔️ Gather competitive intel to refine your keyword strategy

DSA insights can help you check on your competition, including whether they've added new keywords or have changed their promotional tactics.

1. Go through your ratings and reviews to understand what's driving organic conversion. You may be able to use positive reviews on your product page, which you can easily update across all retailers using your PIM.  

✔️ Prioritize continuous optimization

It’s essential to continually optimize product content as retailer requirements and shopper behaviors change using DSA and PIM systems.

1. 1. Adjust your workflows to match the effort involved in reproducing and syndicating content across myriad channel specs. Agile work practices and digital shelf insights allow you to optimize current formats and online profitability continuously.

To learn more about how CommerceIQ’s DSA solution can help your brand gain a competitive advantage on the digital shelf, request a demo now.