A brand’s success is tied to its actions and position on the digital shelf. In order to grow, brands need a robust understanding and adoption of commerce experience management for an optimized digital presence. 

This article explores the importance of a strong commerce experience management strategy and how you can implement one starting now.  

Commerce Experience Management and the Digital Shelf 

Commerce experience management is your brand’s strategy to create omnichannel shopping experiences needed to win the digital shelf. E-commerce is the core driver of your sales, both online and off. Consumers are either buying your products online or using your e-commerce pages to compare and shop before making a purchase decision. 

Building your commerce experience management strategy empowers you to sell to shoppers where they are, whenever they shop, and with personalized experiences that move them toward purchase. 

Read on to learn how and why to implement your commerce experience management strategy. 

Selling and Winning on the Digital Shelf 

Success in retail relies on your success on the digital shelf. And it’s through commerce experience management that you optimize your digital shelf strategy. 

The digital shelf is the interwoven connection of every touch point with your brand. Your digital presence informs your place at every stage of the buyer’s journey, from awareness to purchase –– and repurchase. 

Consumers do more online shopping now than ever before. And even trips to a brick-and-mortar store are preceded by online research. A 2021 consumer survey by 1WorldSync found that 9 percent of consumers research products online before going to the store to purchase. Moreover, 80 percent of consumers continue online research via their smartphones while in-store. 

Customers shop in the omnichannel. That means brands must operate in the omnichannel. Your presence on the digital shelf is essential for your retail success. But selling –– and winning –– on the digital shelf requires brands to rethink marketing altogether. 

In an industry like digital marketing, where the way to win is constantly changing, brands must understand commerce experience management and allow that strategy to shape how they present themselves on the digital shelf. 

Below are a few ways your commerce experience management shapes your digital presence.  

1. Top Search Ranks are Prime Real Estate 

Consumers go to Google (and other search engines) to discover, locate, and learn about products. A product’s ranking on the SERPs directly informs the success of that product and brand. 

Shoppers trust search results to give them what they want and need. Consider that 70 percent of Amazon customers never click past the first page of results, and the first three items displayed account for 64 percent of clicks. 

Your search rank matters. The higher your rank, the greater the likelihood a user will click on your product detail page. But if you rank on the second or third SERPs, your chances of making a sale quickly diminish. 

Given that top search ranks are prime real estate, your commerce experience management must include strategies to earn these high-level spots. 

2. Adapting to Retailer Requirements 

As customer attitudes and habits change, retailer sites must adapt to their audience. Retailers constantly evolve their commerce experiences to compete in their markets while maintaining regulations and compliance standards. 

As a result, brands, too, must change and adapt to meet retailer requirements for product data and display. It’s essential that you can quickly update product information as needed to avoid disruptions to your e-commerce product pages. 

Your commerce experience management must include tools that allow you to manage product data content across channels and retailer sites where you list your goods. 

3. Agile Marketing is the Only Way to Win 

The way to succeed on the digital shelf is to build your commerce management experience with agility as a top priority. 

Digital marketing is a constantly evolving industry. Consumer needs, wants, and demands change yearly, monthly, and weekly. Some trends can even change daily. When change is the norm, brands and businesses must not merely adopt agile practices. They must build out their marketing strategy with agility at the forefront of their methodology. 

In every aspect of your commerce experience management, you must think “agile.” Agile marketing practices allow brands to adapt as needed, increasing output and ROI. 

Commerce Experience Management for Your Brand 

The hallmark of a successful commerce experience management strategy is its functionality in an omnichannel market. Your position on the digital shelf relies on your ability to make the algorithm work for you. High SERP rankings are the way to win, and optimized commerce experience management helps you get there. 

The right tools and resources for commerce experience management make all the difference in your e-commerce success. When evaluating partners and products for your commerce experience management, consider the following factors:  

1. Product Data and a Single Source of Truth 

All successful retailers understand that they’re operating in omnichannel. But when you must manage hundreds or thousands of product detail pages across a dozen retailer sites, you know that you can’t effectively manage all that product data manually. 

You need a system that allows you to manage data from a single source of truth. 

A single data source allows you to create a seamless content experience for users regardless of where they interact with your brand. Research from 1WorldSync found that 84 percent of consumers say the product content experience should be consistent across platforms. A central data system improves the customer experience and brand perception. 

Creating and editing product data through a management system empowers you to make changes instantly across all channels and on all product data pages. This makes an impossible task (manually editing thousands of product description pages) possible. You’ll save resources and eliminate errors that result from manual editing. 

Ultimately, you want consumers to have a superior experience with your content because excellent product content drives sales. Operating from a single source of truth ensures consistency and promotes a positive experience for your shoppers. 

2. Streamlined, Collaborative Workflows 

Efficiency is the name of the game in e-commerce. Your content experience management should promote efficiency through streamlining workflows and allowing for collaboration among your team. 

When content is stored in one location, you promote the agility we discussed above. Content management systems help you:

• Catch potential compliance or legal errors 
• Facilitate communication among and between teams 
• Increase collaboration
• Maximize output 

Your commerce experience management should include strategies that empower your teams to make the most of their time and energy to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Everyone wins when your team has the tools they need to perform their best. 

3. Active Omnichannel Engagement 

A digital presence is one thing. Active omnichannel engagement is another. 

Superior commerce experience management puts your brand in a position to attract and engage shoppers on the most channels and with the most consumers possible. You must choose a data pool provider that provides the greatest access to retailers (and, therefore, consumers.) This ensures you deliver supply chain information and product data to your partners and reach consumers with the information they want before making a purchase. 

Begin Commerce Experience Management Today  

Rapid adoption of the digital shelf has granted consumers access to more products and information –– from more brands –– than ever. To win your market share and come out on top on your digital shelf, you must prioritize commerce experience management. 

1WorldSync provides the commerce experience management tools you need to stand out today and continue competing into the future. Reach out to begin a conversation with our team today.