One of the most common questions we get from brands without an established retail ecommerce strategy is: “Why should I drive traffic to a retailer’s website instead of my own?” Brands work hard to develop a strong web presence, so it makes sense for there to be initial hesitancy around sending potential customers anywhere else. The reality, however, is that selling through your website alone limits sales to a single channel.

Whether it becomes a supplement for selling DTC or your entire growth strategy, leveraging shoppable media to drive traffic to retail shopping carts unlocks new channel opportunities that fuel your brand’s growth through four key benefits:

1. Fulfillment

Depending on your products, managing and fulfilling orders placed through a DTC store can be expensive and challenging - especially with the current state of supply chains. Retail ecommerce leaves fulfilling, costly shipping, and the occasional customer returns up to the retailers who already have built out operations for smooth fulfillment.

With click and collect or curbside pickup options now available at nearly every retailer, you’ll be able to deliver instant gratification to customers in any area, which would otherwise be impossible to support through DTC alone.

Over nine out of 10 shoppers deem these BOPIS (buy online, pickup in-store) purchasing options convenient or preferred. In 2020, eMarketer reported $72.46 billion in click and collect sales in the US, and it’s expected that those numbers will exceed $140 billion by 2024.‍

2. Trial

Many direct-to-consumer brands selling products that are expensive to ship (i.e. alcohol or other liquids) set minimum quantity thresholds on their products to ensure their margins are protected. While this benefits the brand, it can exclude potential customers who prefer to sample a product first before committing to a larger purchase.

Sending traffic to retailers allows you to tap into an audience that might prefer to try before they buy. Trial opportunities - like adding a single can of kombucha to cart, for example - are more likely to happen through a retailer where a customer already has an account or was already planning to purchase other items. Assuming they enjoy your product, this single purchase can turn into bulk or repeat purchases.‍

3. Trust‍

Consumers place a lot of trust in their favorite retailers. When they see your products available at those stores, it legitimizes your brand and increases their willingness to try your products. This is especially important for emerging brands.

Trust also comes into play when considering product reviews. Potential customers typically trust reviews on a retailer’s site over reviews on your brand’s website because they’re much more likely to be unbiased. Having strong social proof can convert digital window shoppers into customers.

4. Insights

Understanding consumer behavior at retail can be powerful, especially considering how many shoppers have loyalty to their local stores. These leverage-able insights are two-fold:

1) Tracking attributable sales made at a retailer as a result of your advertising is strong proof of investment for your retail partners. This purchase data can help you demonstrate that your brand deserves more shelf space, strengthening your pitch to existing retailers and opening up opportunities for future potential partners.

2) Gaining insights on who is engaging with your shoppable media, how, and where your customers are actually purchasing unlocks data-driven decision making that can fuel future performance marketing. You’ll be able to build better lookalike audiences based on retail customers, optimize campaigns on any step of the funnel, run remarketing for abandoned retail carts, and more.

Pear’s retail ecommerce platform combines shoppable media capabilities with actionable insights, enabling new growth opportunities for any CPG brand selling at retail. Contact us to learn more or get started. →

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