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Content that ConvertsThe guide to creating winning eCommerce product pages

Your brands have just seconds to shine on the digital shelf. It’s therefore

paramount that your product pages have descriptive and complete content to

engage and convert shoppers.

In fact, 73% of consumers cite detailed product content as a key factor when

searching for and selecting products online, according to a UPS and comScore study.

Of course, creating great product content is no simple task. There are many

product content elements to manage: Product title, hero image, supplementary

images, product description, not to mention a growing number of enhanced

or rich content possibilities.

Where should you focus your efforts to maximize conversion opportunities?

Profitero has analyzed more than 5,400 products on Amazon, looking at the impact

that content changes have on sales performance. In this paper, we’ll emphasize

what’s possible with product content, but more importantly what works based on

this research. While the analysis and commentary is primarily geared to Amazon

many of the principles and practices discussed are extensible to other retailers

and markets.

Content requirements vary widely by market and retailer; care must be taken to understand these differences. In the UK, for example, enhanced content is less developed than in the US, whereas content standards and syndication are significantly more developed. In China, images play a bigger role in presenting product information and product detail page structure is substantially different than it is in other parts of the world.

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What you’ll learn:• Why product content matters during the

shopping process

• The fundamental elements of product content

• What types of content generate the most sales lift

• Guidelinestoeffectivelyandefficiently develop, manage, syndicate, audit and analyze product content

• How advancements like mobile and voice technology change content requirements

https://upscapital.com/wp-content/themes/upscapital/assets/uploads/UPS-Pulse-of-the-Online-Shopper-U.S.-Study-White-Paper-June-2015.pdf

https://upscapital.com/wp-content/themes/upscapital/assets/uploads/UPS-Pulse-of-the-Online-Shopper-U.S.-Study-White-Paper-June-2015.pdf

3CONTENT THAT CONVERTS: THE GUIDE TO CRE ATING WINNING ECOMMERCE PRODUC T PAGES

Anatomy of a product detail page

Before you can launch a full-on, sales-boosting

product content strategy, it’s important to first

understand the basic elements of your product page.

1. Product title- Brand name

- Product name

- Keyword(s)

- Variant

- Package count

- Package size

5. A+ Content- Vivid imagery

- Brand banner

- Promote lifestyle

- In use images

- Highlight features

- Comparison matrix

- Tell brand story

4. Bullet points & product description- Brand story

- Product instructions

- Product features

2. Images- White background

pack shot

- Out of box

- In use

- Lifestyle

- Additional detail

- Show scale

3. Video - Show, don’t tell

- Unboxing & product

assembly

- How-to / in-use in context

- Storytelling

- Production line or

product origin

- Environmentally friendly

practices

- Customer testimonials

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4

5

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Page section Structural element Objective

“Above the fold”

Product title Identifies the brand, product line, variant, pack size and count,

format, and may contain search keywords

Bulleted features Emphasizes key features and benefits

Product image(s) Presents the product visually using images of physical product

packaging, or supplementary lifestyle and usage images

Description and A+ content Provides an overview of a product’s key features and benefits

“Below the fold”

Secondary images Additional images that feature out-of-package displays,

product usage, lifestyle imagery, and scale and proportion,

among others

Product videos Explains features, benefits, product usage and other relevant

content in video format

Comparison grids Compares variants within a product line where relevant

Rich content Elevates the consumer experience through interactive content,

like decision guides for regimented product lines

Anatomy of a product detail page cont’d



Start with the basics: “Above the fold” content

Above the fold content is what a shopper sees

when they first land on your product page, before

scrolling down. Typically, it includes title, images and

product description. While we find that these basic

fields have less to do with conversions than other

more advanced content features, they are, in fact,

a prerequisite to selling online and important to

tackle first.

Excelling at the basics is a must. This means having:

• Accurate and complete product titles,

featuring all the fields that will help shoppers

find your product

• Visually appealing and informative images,

including a great primary or “hero” image and

supplemental images

• Exceptional descriptions intended to inform

and entice shoppers to buy

An increasing number of online retailers, such as

Walmart will penalize suppliers that don’t have

accurate, complete above the fold content for their

pages. That’s why it’s important to have scorecards

in place to measure and track your product’s

performance against a retailer’s — as well as

internally established — compliance rules.

Product content scorecard mockup

Brand score:

Average of content field

compliance percentages

A+ / Enhanced content

0-30% 30-59% 60-89% 90-100%

Bullet count

Number of images

Primary image

Product description

Product title

Content field compliance percentages:

# of live compliant products

÷ # of total live products

Brand X

66%

68% 50%95%95% 62%28%


It’s good to have at least a basic understanding of the content expectations specific to your category as well. We recommend taking a hard look at some category benchmarks.

Ask questions like: What are the best-sellers in your category doing? How are your competitors presenting themselves?

Let’s explore key above-the-fold content elements in more detail.


Product title: Your online elevator pitch

Product titles are among the most critical forms of

product content. In relatively few characters, the

product title must deliver complete and compelling

information, including keywords that feed the

relevancy algorithms of a retailer site.

We find that best-selling products’ titles on Amazon,

as well as other leading online retailer sites, typically

contain all or most of the structural elements

illustrated by this Lysol Clean & Fresh multi-surface

cleaner example found at Walmart.com.

Brand name

Sub brand

Product claim/keyword

Variant/scent/flavor

Product size (pack size if >1)

Source: Walmart.com


Images: Worth a thousand words

Compelling visuals serve as a powerful tool to attract

and convert shoppers. Most retailers won’t even

consider listing a product without images.

So, first things first: You need a primary product

image or what’s commonly called “hero” image. The

primary image appears in two places: as a thumbnail

in search results or category listings, and as a full-size

image on your product detail page.

The goal of a primary product image is to attract the

shopper’s eye and convey important product details.

A 2015 University of Sheffield study investigating

shoppers’ eye movements when purchasing groceries

online found that product images and titles were the

most frequently viewed information when deciding

which products to select.

The more images, the better. Having just a single image is becoming increasingly

rare. But if you only have one, you better make

the most of it. This means high quality and high

resolution. Investing in professional photography is

encouraged.

Ideally though, brands have several image assets

from which to choose. Based on our analysis of

more than 5,400 products on Amazon, we found

companies generated an average sales lift of 23% when adding more images.

Different strokes for different categories. Category nuances should be taken into account when

deciding what image type could best showcase your

product and important information. Consider each

product on a case-by-case basis.

Take the Baby Skin Care (and more generally, Skin

Care as a whole) category as an example. Our

research shows that in-use images have the greatest

impact on conversion, followed by lifestyle imagery.

Images depicting additional details generally had no

extra value or benefit.

Compare this with the Food category. In Food,

we found lifestyle images and those that provide

additional benefits (like back-of-label nutritional

information or product claims, e.g., dairy-free or

lowers cholesterol) lead to higher conversion levels.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25660339


Image types and description/use

Gives consumers a good idea of what they are buying without actually kicking the tires so to speak, that is seeing, touching or trialing the product.

Shows product in use, or visually illustrates specific usage occasions or instructions. Particularly useful when the product itself, i.e., primary and out-of-box images, are unfamiliar to consumers.

Displays product in an attractive and inviting environment with focus on ambience rather than product itself.

Example: Cereal product that focuses on family togetherness aspect of meal instead of gluten-free claim.

Displays additional information and details to help consumers understand more about the product.

Examples: scale/proportion; key benefits or product claims; multi-angled (oftentimes back-of-box) views; and zoom and 360° views.

Out-of-box / out-of-package

In use

Lifestyle

Additional detail

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3

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Certain types of images generally have a greater impact than

others. Our suggested order of operations is depicted here:

Scale / proportion

Multi-angle view Zoom and 360° view

Product claim or benefit

Additional detail images — more examples:

What images work best?


Write in a compelling voice, defining the buyer “persona.”

Apply what you know about your products’ shopper

demographics and psychographics. Write in a voice

likely to resonate with this ideal buyer.

Example: Luvs value pack description listed at

Target speaks directly to moms, linking the product

purchase to her good judgment based on its value

and effectiveness.

“You know more—so why spend more? As an experienced mom, you don’t trust something because it costs more, you trust what works. Luvs diapers give your baby the protection she needs at

the low price you’re looking for—complete with a money-back guarantee. Leaks? No thanks. You need a diaper that holds up to your wiggly little one. Luckily, Luvs has NightLock, our largest absorbency area ever, to lock away wetness even overnight.”

If a product title is the elevator pitch, the product

description is the interview. It represents a brand’s

best chance to inspire, educate and inform shoppers

enough to convert them. Good product descriptions

sell. They’re also heavily weighted in most retailers’

search algorithms, which make them a key driver of

discoverability.

Unfortunately, many product descriptions read like

technical overviews intended for an internal audience

instead of prospective buyers. We find most

sophisticated brands use a fairly simple formula for

descriptions that are designed to sell:

Concise (1-3 short sentences), seductive paragraphs + feature/benefit bullets

Product descriptions following this format give

shoppers key benefits at a glance while offering more

detail for those choosing to read on. Here are some

examples and tips for creating product descriptions.

Product description: Write to sell

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Sell the experience, not just the product. Good product descriptions “seduce” buyers by

helping them imagine how a product could improve

their lives. Emphasize product benefits rather than

focusing on features and specifications,.

Example: Burt’s Bees baby oil (emphasis added)

uses sensory language to highlight the experience

and benefits of using the product.

Show, don’t tell. Good copy avoids vague superlative claims like “excellent

quality” or “best in class” and instead describes

specific benefits that reinforce your products’ unique

characteristics.

Example: Method All Purpose Natural Surface Cleaner (emphasis added) not only makes a “pioneering

chemistry” claim but follows up each technical feature

(e.g., corn-based cleaning salts; coco oil-derived

surfactants) with a clear and compelling benefit.“Gently soften and soothe your baby’s skin with Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Nourishing Baby Oil. This 100% natural baby oil has the alluring scent of apricots and is rich in nutrients and antioxidants from apricot and grape seed oils to keep your baby’s skin soft and supple. Also, it contains no

synthetic fragrances, so your baby smells fresh and sweet using only natural ingredients. Add baby oil to bath or apply directly on baby’s skin. Pamper baby’s precious skin as well as yours. It’s pediatrician-tested and contains no phthalates, parabens or petrolatum.”

“Put the hurt on dirt with Powergreen Technology, pioneering chemistry that harnesses the strength of naturally derived, non-toxic ingredients to break down dirt naturally. Corn-based cleaning salts bind to dirt to wipe it away while coco oil-derived surfactants remove grease and grime, so every

spray leaves nothing behind but a fresh scent and gleaming clean. And the biodegradable formula is safe for most surfaces: tile, sealed wood and marble, and metal.”

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“15-20% of people will actually go through all of the enhanced content. But it’s fundamentally there to create the confidence that the product they’re looking at is the product that they need.”

—Mark White Founding Partner and President, content26

Once your basic product content is in place and

optimized for excellence, turn your attention to

premium content, what’s known industry-wide as

Enhanced Manufacturer Content (EMC) or A+ content

at Amazon specifically.

This supplementary content supplied by

manufacturers typically is positioned “below the fold”

or about halfway down a product detail page. While

shoppers usually have to scroll to see it, the goal of enhanced manufacturer content is to inspire, educate or persuade shoppers at a critical moment

along their path to purchase — when they’re at the

digital point of sale.

According to Webcollage, a provider of tools to

syndicate content, product sales conversion rates are at least +10% higher when manufacturer

content is present on retailer product detail pages.

There are many places — from adding more images

and product page videos to product comparison

matrixes and decision guides — in which brands can

invest in to enhance content and ultimately help seal

the deal with shoppers. Unfortunately, time, money

and people power are not infinite.

“Below the fold” content: Invest where it matters most

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At Profitero, we recommend the following order of operations for investing in

enhanced content based on our analysis of what drives the greatest sales performance.

What we did:

Measuring pre- and post-sales lift, we identified digital shelf actions that

had the greatest impact on sales, creating a prioritized order of operations.

Manage out-of-stock issues on priority items

Manage price-pack architecture and program encrollment

Assess MAP violations and policy

Optimize promotional effectiveness

Win the Buy Box more frequently

Optimize assortment using 3P sales analytics

Increase share of page 1 for prioritized general keywords

Add videos to priority product pages

Boost review counts

Ensure all products’ star ratings meet category benchmarks

Respond to negative reviews

Boost the image count on product pages

Add A+/enhanced content to priority product pages

Increase the length and quality of textual product descriptions

Increase share of page 1 for own- branded keywords

Sponsor own-branded keywords to maximize page 1 visibility

Sponsor trending and highly-searched general keywords

Optimize category placement for shoppers browsing categories

Leverage other on-site paid media campaigns

Sponsor competitors’ branded keywords

Monitor competitive launches to identify new pack size/flavor/innovation trend opportunities

Consider a 3P backstop to fill-in demand for priority items

Availability

Assortment & availability

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2

3

4

5

6

7

Prio

rity

(hig

h to

low

bas

ed o

n sa

les

impa

ct)

Pricing & promotions

Search & placement

Product content

Ratings & reviews

Sales & share 1P/3P sales analytics

Traffic Conversion

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Where should brands start?

CONTENT THAT CONVERTS: THE GUIDE TO CRE ATING WINNING ECOMMERCE PRODUC T PAGES


Enhancing content below the fold can provide a

huge sales increase.

But brands often throw money to the wind by

adding content to products that are already highly

converting. So, it’s important to understand where

you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck.

Profitero looked at 5,400+ products on Amazon

during a three-month period, and we found that:

• Adding video increased sales an average of +55%

• Adding more images lifted sales an average of +23%

• Adding enhanced or A+ content resulted in a +8% average sales lift

What translates into high performance at the end

of the day is when every product in your portfolio

features enhanced or A+ content with several

different types of images and at least one product

page video.

Sales uptick related to content enhancement

Average sales lift related to change in product content

Adding video (none previously)

Increasing # of images

Adding A+ content (none previously)

55%

23%

8%

Source: Profitero

Analysis of 5,422 products on Amazon from January 11 to March 21, 2018. No products with average daily sales under $10 were included, and only products with at least 5 days with the same product content were included.

15PRODUC T CONTENT: PACK AGING FOR THE DIGITAL SHELF

“I’ve even started calling it Content 2.0, given the fact that so many people want a lot more information about the products they’re putting in their body and on their body. It’s not just taking a product’s packaging and reformatting it into pretty pictures on a page, but actually taking the time to explain where that product is from. It not only helps sales on Amazon, but off Amazon.”

—Melissa Burdick President, Pacvue

Case study — Improving A+ content

One Profitero customer — a global CPG

company — aggressively improved its Amazon

content during a five-month period in 2017. It

boosted its products with A+ content from 35% to

47%, nearly doubled the number of products with

video from 28% to 45%, and added an average of

one more image per product.

The result?

The company grew sales on the items 66% faster than the category.

Situation: Global pet food manufacturer Opportunity uncovered

A number of products were under-performing against content benchmarks

Grew sales

faster than the category

Before After

Products with A+ content 35% 47%

Products with video 28% 45%

Average image count 7.2 8.2

66%


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Content management cycle

Whether you are a manufacturer of a single product

or have hundreds (if not thousands) of skus, the scale

and complexity of managing and distributing multiple

pieces of content across different retailer platforms

is daunting. Some critical steps consequently could

easily get overlooked and errors occur.

However, by following a somewhat “virtuous cycle”

of content management, the most experienced

manufacturer down to the greenest of digital natives

can find success.

The key lies in the development, distribution and

refinement of high-quality assets as an ongoing loop:

Learn what works versus what doesn’t, and then

make changes along the way based on feedback and

performance metrics. This type of continual process is

an earmark of high-performing manufacturers.

Consider the following guidelines:

Benchmark against high performers. Many brands tend to operate in a vacuum, assuming

their internal standards are either high enough or

that guidelines developed for other channels are

transferable to the digital shelf. Developing a style

guide specific to digital product content is typically

a good idea. It’s also good practice to analyze and

benchmark against the content characteristics of

best-selling products. Many tools and analytics

platforms exist to make this job easier.

Benchmark outperformers

Develop baseline “Above the fold”

content

Refresh regularly

Syndicate to retailers

Audit, test & measure

Invest strategically in A+/enhanced content

Develop optimal “above-the-fold” content. Focus first on creating stellar basic content or fixing

what already exists. This means identifying any gaps

in your above-the-fold content or where your product

content lags versus category benchmarks and

competitors. Then remedy accordingly.

Syndicate to retailer sites. Sharing of product content from manufacturer

to retailer is a fundamental requirement of doing

business online. The challenge comes in ensuring

accurate, up-to-date and identical content gets

widely distributed without any hiccups to your

broad retailer network. A host of third-party content

syndicators offer services to ease the process and

enable a seamless distribution of content.


Content management cycle cont’d

“It’s a struggle for retailers to get accurate product descriptions and images for their digital shelf. It starts with CPGs getting that right and being able to easily hand it off to retailers.”

—Matt Pierre Director of eCommerce, General Mills

Something to keep in mind though: What is required

or works on one retailer site may not always be the

best fit for another. A growing number of retailers

have their own content standards and guidelines in

place for suppliers to follow. Some even offer content

optimization services specific to their platforms.

Failure to follow your retailer partner’s content

standards could mean listing delays or, worse yet,

rejection. This could lead to suboptimal performance.

Strategically invest in enhanced content. Many brands are unaware or skeptical of the value

of adding enhanced content, but Profitero’s analysis

has proven otherwise. While the production and

distribution costs tend to be higher than basic

above-the-fold content, selectively investing in

enhanced content where it can provide the greatest

return — e.g., adding videos and more images to

your underperforming products — can yield

desirable results.

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Content management cycle cont’d

Audit, test and measure. The mantra “set it and forget it” doesn’t work with

product content. The syndication of product content

to various retailer sites, many with their own set

of standards and specifications, only complicates

matters. The results could be highly undesirable, such

as missing, incomplete or underperforming assets.

Manual audits could be a low-cost starting point.

Given the growth and complexity of eCommerce,

it is well worth considering automated tools and

technology platforms as a scalable and cost-effective

way to ensure integrity at the digital shelf.

Routinely refresh product content. At the very least, product content should be

refreshed to align with physical packaging updates.

It’s better still to refresh and enhance content more

frequently. High performers set a regular cadence

for product content audits: quarterly at a minimum,

monthly if possible.Ongoing visibility and insight

into your product content’s performance will help

dictate the urgency of any necessary changes or

enhancements.

Content management: Initial audit process

Cadence audits should address hard changeovers & soft changeovers

Develop standards

Hard changeovers

• Correctly set content for new products & new listings on retailer sites

• Product content should be set and updated as soon as possible

Soft changeovers

• Refreshing content for existing products with packaging changes

• Content should reflect current packaging, promotions and seasonal changes

Review products

Address issues

Syndicate to retailers

Standardize content collection



Optimizing product content for mobile

Mobile is already the number one platform for

eCommerce across developed nations as well as a

growing number of emerging markets. The ubiquity

of smartphones puts a digital shelf right in the hands

of many consumers.

This means a growing amount of product research (if

not buying) is being done on the go — often while

shoppers are in the aisles of a physical store — which

underscores the importance of mobile-first content

optimization.

Viewing content via mobile is problematic at times,

however, because most product images were

originally developed with desktop browsing in mind.

Image contents, dimensions and file size assume

a large, high-resolution screen and a traditional

keyboard-and-mouse interface.

Consequently, the move toward mobile shopping

means adapting and optimizing product content for

smaller screens, considering such factors as space

constraints and screen load times, must be a priority.

It’s especially critical since most retailers don’t allow

suppliers to provide separate product content for

mobile devices. Out of necessity, manufacturers must

adopt a “mobile-first” mentality when developing

product imagery.

“In terms of mobile, there are already some examples

of hero images that are considered the best. For

example, on Magnum [ice cream bars], we’ve taken

the product out of the pack and lay it diagonally

across the pack to save space because you only

have a square,” according to Oliver Bradley, global

eCommerce Design Director at Unilever.

“Then, sticking the number of servings on top of the

ice cream makes it really easy for shoppers. It does

two things: One it is aesthetically beautiful. Two, it

solves the ‘How many Magnums am I getting’ issue,”

continued Bradley.

“If you look at the Magnum Hero image, we’ve

cleaned the pack up. We made the M bigger for

Magnum so you can see ‘Mini’ is a lot bigger. We

called them out, so it’s obvious we’ve got the classic,

the almond, and the white in there so you can see

the difference. Variant is a lot easier to see.”

Case study — Unilever

Unilever is a good example of a manufacturer

developing product content specifically designed

with mobile in mind. Working with The Engineering

Design Centre (EDC) at the University of Cambridge,

Unilever assessed the usability of its product images

on mobile devices.

Using an EDC tool called SEE-IT (Sight Exclusion

Estimator — Interactive Tool), Unilever discovered that

its original product images had an exclusion factor

of more than 80%, that is, 80% of shoppers would

be excluded from seeing the image comfortably at

a typical mobile viewing distance and resolution. By

designing product images purpose-built for mobile

display, the manufacturer managed to reduce the

exclusion factor to less than 25%.

Global eCommerce Design Director Oliver Bradley

shared some results with Profitero:

In a test with a French

retailer, Unilever got a

Working with a UK retailer,

Unilever made the branding

and variant bigger for Ben &

Jerry’s ice cream, also showing

images of the product with

the lids off. The result:

In another test in Europe,

Unilever added the number

of washes on a laundry

detergent and saw a

uplift by creating mobile-

ready hero images for

Magnum ice cream bars

lift by having hero images

instead of standard pack shots

uplift after implementing

the change

24%

3.6%2.6%


“We recognized mobile is the first screen, or experience, for our brands. We also recognized the current mobile experience was miserable and it was leading to poor conversion rates. That’s a big challenge for retailers because you’ve got shoppers wanting to use their mobile to shop, instead of using a desktop or laptop, but the experience is sub-optimal and wasn’t leading to the conversion that either our retail partners or we wanted.”

—Oliver Bradley Global eCommerce Design Director, Unilever


Phenomenal growth of voice-activated devices like

Amazon Echo and Google Home is driving rapid

change in how shoppers search for information

online. comScore predicts that 50% of all searches

will be by voice within the next three years, up from

20% in 2016.

Voice-activated shopping clearly is big and only set

to get bigger — as are the implications for a brand’s

product content as it relates to a voice strategy.

Manufacturers must act now to get their product

content in order so it seamlessly translates from the

digital shelf to the “invisible” shelf.

In addition to optimizing for voice search (i.e.,

optimizing around phrases that mimic how people

actually talk), this means ensuring your product

description copy and bullet lists are clear and

concise, emphasizing key product characteristics like

brand, variant and pack size.

Preparing for a voice shopping future

Specifically, when an Amazon shopper asks Alexa to

“tell me more” about a product, they’ll hear one or

more feature bullets before being asked if they want

to buy it. This short, bulleted content sounds best

when kept free of special characters, capital letters,

and punctuation such as colons.

When faced with wordy sentences, Alexa selects the

bullets that can be read within a limited timeframe

(typically 16-20 seconds), at times skipping the first

bullet entirely.

Therefore, products with short, concise and

conversational product-detail page content fare best

on voice-enabled devices, according to product

content specialist content26.

Example of bulleted list optimized for voice: St. Ives Blemish Control Face Scrub

“Brands that want to create a great shopping experience on Alexa need to pay attention to content. One garbled bullet will make your content unlistenable.”

—Trinity Hartman Director of Content, content26

Top 5 takeaways

Start with the basics. It pretty much goes without saying, but some

reinforcement never hurts: Without great basic

content, your online initiatives could be dead in

the water before you even begin. Failure to meet

a retailer’s site standards can result in a product’s

rejection or listing delay, and lead to subpar

performance. Consequently, having great basic

“above the fold” content — product title, image and

description — is the bare-bones minimum to selling

online.

Strategically invest where it matters most. Beyond the basics, manufacturers should strategically

invest to enhance content where they can get the

biggest bang for their buck. This generally means

adding rich media like videos, increasing your image

count, and adding or improving A+/enhanced

product content. Our analysis of more than 5,400

products on Amazon shows that products can lift

sales by as much as +55% by adding videos and

+23% by adding more images.

Monitor, manage and syndicate product content. Top-performing brands usually have a systematic

way of monitoring, managing, refining and

syndicating product content to retailer sites. A

manual process, while perhaps a good starting point,

is usually not enough. More sophisticated players

increasingly utilize services and tools provided

by some combination of analytics experts and

content syndicators to ensure the development

and distribution of high-quality assets becomes a

continuous process.

Adapt content for mobile and voice selling. Mobile and, increasingly, voice technology are

changing the way consumers shop. This has huge

implications for manufacturers in terms of optimizing

product content across multiple platforms to ensure

consumers have a good online brand experience

regardless of the way they choose to shop.

Anticipate what’s next. Rapid advancements in technology and a never-

ending quest to improve the shopper experience

means digital product content will continue to evolve.

We already see some progressive manufacturers

adding interactive content and integrating AR/

VR experiences online. Going forward, it will be

imperative to stay ahead of the curve on the latest

technologies and enablers. Given the fluid and

dynamic nature of eCommerce, it’s anyone’s guess

what’s next on the horizon.

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Building an action planBeginner Intermediate Advanced What’s next?

Basic content

Focus on optimizing above-the-fold content, including titles, descriptions, images, and bulleted features/benefits, per each retailer’s specifications

If resources allow, load out-of-package shots for priority products

Ensure key features and benefits are listed in product bullets

Add secondary images (out-of-box, in-use, lifestyle, additional detail shots)

Optimize content for mobile; this might mean shorter, more targeted product descriptions and titles as well as mobile-optimized images

Voice optimization: the right titles, descriptions, and bullets for voice

Incorporating the voice of the customer in marketing copy (e.g. frequently searched keywords and ratings & reviews)

More dynamic content — versioning by retailer, device, persona, context, and more

Advanced content

Focus first on optimal basic content Prioritize products — best-sellers, and new or strategic items — for Enhanced Manufacturer Content

Consider a product family matrix to help distinguish between products in various families

Add videos to your best sellers’ product pages

Better syndication and standardization across retailers

Largely automated updating based on new information, trending keywords, etc.

AnalyticsMeasure basic product content compliance (e.g., all products have one image; titles all include the correct brand)

Measure, monitor and analyze your product content performance and that of your competitors

Benchmark yourself to competitors performing well

Understand and tweak content based on conversion and sales performance

Personalized content based on search queries and shopper purchase history

TeamPart-time content manager focused on creating and loading basic content

Designated team members on account teams

Dedicate a full-time team member (internal or at an agency partner) to focus on supplemental images and advanced content

Designate account-specific team members to work with dedicated specialists to optimize content across retailers

Machine learning & AI content versioning

Distributed (or crowdsourced) content teams working against styleguides and retailer specs

ToolsA digital shelf monitoring tool that enables you to measure your performance

A digital shelf monitoring tool that enables you to measure your performance and benchmark to competitors

A digital shelf monitoring tool that enables you to assess the ROI of content changes

Deeper analytics to assess the impact of content changes on shopper behavior and search behavior

Better integration with retailer systems


25

Profitero tear sheet—Product content dos and don’ts

Product title

DO DON’T

Use title case. Most retailers prefer to capitalize the first letter of each word.

Split product titles over two lines. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but if possible product titles should be short enough to fit on a single line.

Delimit structural elements with punctuation. Use commas or parentheses to break text into its constituent parts like brand, variant and pack-size.

Use consumer wording in the product title. Co-opting consumers’ vocabulary is a clever way to increase relevancy, but it is best saved for description fields.

Be selective about adding search keywords to product titles. Including an accurately descriptive and heavily-searched keyword is a powerful way to increase your relevance for on-site search.

Add company name to product title unless shoppers naturally associate it with the brand. Adding extraneous information not only fills valuable real estate but could create consumer confusion.

Primary or hero image

DO DON’T

Display high-resolution, front-facing image of product’s physical package that’s clearly identifiable by shoppers.

Don’t use a graphic, illustration, promotion or lifestyle image. Primary product image must be of product itself.

Use a white background since many retailers require it. A service like Pixelz can efficiently edit product images not already on a white background.

Clearly display product details listed on the product’s physical package.

Update digital product content as needed, e.g., when physical packaging is refreshed, and be sure new content is distributed/syndicated across retailer sites.

Enhanced / A+ content

DO DON’T

Add enhanced content to overcome limitations of basic content to inspire, educate and drive discovery.

Use large images. Instead, fragment visuals for faster loading.

Use vivid imagery and rich content such as decision guides to create confidence that shoppers are viewing the product that they need.

Rely on text-heavy images – they are not indexed for search.

Invest in high-performing products, new releases, or products with high potential.

Add enhanced content, including images and video, to drive increased conversion of underperforming products.


26

Glossary

A+ content Amazon’s version of Enhanced Manufacturer Content,

indicated by the content under the header “From

the Manufacturer”

Above-the-fold

Content that typically appears before a shopper

must scroll, and includes the product title, product

image(s), bullet content and description

Below-the-fold Enhanced content, including supplementary images,

videos, comparison matrixes, among others, which a

shopper must scroll down product page to view

Bullet content Bulleted above-the-fold content that provides a

product’s key features and benefits

Comparison matrix or grid Matrix comparing products within a product line or

brand family

Enhanced Manufacturer Content (EMC) Supplemental visual and textual content suppliers can

provide some retailers, typically at an additional cost

Primary product or “Hero” image The product image shown on search results’ pages

and the default image shown on the product

detail page

Product description The text description of a product included on the

product detail page

Product detail page (PDP) The product page that contains the images,

description and add-to-cart button

Rich content Interactive content like decision guides for

regimented product lines

Secondary product images Images supplemental to the primary product image

Need a better content approach?

Ask Profitero how we can help optimize

your product content to make sure your

investments are maximized, not wasted.

For more information,

email [email protected]

or visit http://www.profitero.com.

For additional guidance, contact Profitero

today at:

Tel US: +1 844 342 7464 Tel UK: +44 208 123 3101

About Profitero

Profitero is the eCommerce Performance analytics

platform of choice for leading brands around the

world. With Profitero, brands can measure their

digital shelf performance across 8,000+ retailer sites

and mobile apps in 50 countries, gaining actionable

insights to improve product content, search

placement, ratings & reviews, availability, assortment

and pricing. Profitero also allows brands to measure

their Amazon sales & share performance, providing

category share and competitor-item sales with 90%+

accuracy, plus the ability to correlate their sales

performance with changes across the digital shelf.

Many of the world’s leading brand manufacturers

depend on Profitero’s granular and highly-accurate

data to measure and improve their eCommerce

performance. These include Barilla, Beiersdorf,

Edgewell, General Mills, Heineken, Kids II and L’Oreal.

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