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Take These Steps to Optimize Your Digital Shelf

Take These Steps to Optimize Your Digital Shelf

As time goes on, more and more online companies launch to seize market shares that were once easily held by the largest traditional brands. Businesses that continue to resist online expansion rather than adapting to its reality will only continue to these shares and fade away. On the digital shelf, flexibility and speed are everything. 

Despite the eCommerce industry’s movement to the digital space, brands still spend around $500 billion per year on physical retail shelf space. Even customers who shop in-store often rely on online channels before making a purchase. Considering the world’s current state, proper optimization of the digital shelf is more important than the retail shelf now than ever. We at Tulfa have highlighted the essential steps to create an effective digital shelf that benefits both your business and customers. 

Create Relevant Digital Shelf Content

When you walk into a grocery store, which products are the first to attract your attention? For most people, their focus is drawn to the products at eye-level. Stores take this into consideration when organizing their shelves. This is exemplified in the cereal aisle, where mascot cereals are commonly placed on shelves that are eye level to children, and generic brands or non-sugary cereal are placed on the bottom or top shelves. 

The same practices used when creating retail shelves should be used when creating digital shelves. Obviously, there aren’t actual shelves on marketplaces like Amazon, but they are effectively replaced by the search bar. Each time a customer makes a new search, a new digital shelf appears. It is imperative that your products are on the shelf that appears for any relevant search. The only way to do this is by choosing the correct keywords. Extensive research on the keywords your competitors use to get their products seen is a must.

However, your work is not done once you get on the digital shelf; you still need to attract buyers to your product instead of your competitors’. The two elements that draw attention are a product image and title. Today, the most successful brands use hero images to grab consumer attention. These images clearly convey a product’s brand, its relevant specifications, and its quantity in one graphic. Similarly, successful titles reinforce this information, telling customers everything they need to know without even clicking on the product.

Adapt Your Digital Shelf

Creating relevant content for your digital shelf is only half the battle. Speed and flexibility are key to surviving in the always-changing digital landscape. It is important to prepare and act according to current market trends, and the current pandemic proves this. 

With more people shopping online than ever before, products are going out of stock in every industry, and understandably so. Before 2020, nobody could have predicted the world’s current state, so it was impossible for any company to prepare with extra stock. Additionally, since people are not working in many countries, there has been a halt on manufacturing across the globe. While there’s not much we can do now, if anything, COVID-19 has taught businesses the importance of always keeping your products in stock.  

Stocking products aside, COVID-19 teaches sellers to also focus on updating the actual content of your digital shelf to be sensitive to current times. Certain products that previously encouraged social interaction should be changed to highlight individual benefits. When selling exercise equipment, don’t tell your customers to use it in the gym, tell them how to use it at home. 

Another asset that shoppers value is user-generated content. When customers are happy with their purchase, some express it online in the form of reviews, recommendations, photos. Not only is this free advertising for your products, but it is another tool to arm your digital shelf with that entices people to buy. According to Invespcro, 88 percent of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. UGC can be a huge asset to your digital shelf but be cautious; one negative review can undo the effect of ten positive reviews.

Continue to Optimize Your Digital Shelf

Now that we’ve touched on creating your digital shelf and how to adapt it, the last thing to do is to ensure its longevity. When it comes to sales, the most profitable companies play the long game. Once they have a successful, or “evergreen” product, they will support it for as long as they can.  

To ensure that your products keep selling, continue to follow our previous steps for optimizing your digital shelf. Always research your competitors to keep your products updated with the most-searched keywords. Always ensure your content is relevant to the current market and target demographic. Remember to use user-generated content to attract people to your products. 

More than anything, prioritize speed and flexibility when maintaining your digital shelf. The last few months prove how quickly the world can change, so being as prepared as possible moving forward ensures your digital shelf the best success possible. 

Invest in Help

Updating content is easier said than done, and sometimes, you just can’t do it alone. Investing in help is always a smart option for companies that lack the knowledge or expertise to create content that drives sales. Content agencies, like Tulfa, are a great asset to businesses that want to accelerate their growth. 

We’re here to help. Shoot us an email or reach out to us on social media. As one of eCommerce’s leading content agencies, we make sure customers notice your products. Check out our services for more information and a free sample of our work.

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