QueryClick explains why it’s important for retailers to adopt an effective attribution strategy.
Like any other industry, retail marketers need to work hard to demonstrate ROI and effectiveness of their efforts. But there is a concern that the focus is on what is easily measured versus what is accurately measured. And what is actually useful, in terms of linking spend to revenue and growth.
So, the race to improve the effectiveness of attribution in retail is on.
The explosion in marketing channels and an increasingly complex customer journey
A new age of retail has emerged in the last decade. There have been dramatic shifts in the way that consumers research, find, and buy retail products. In fact, the customer journey is almost unrecognisable from the one of 10 years ago.
Consumers now flip between a wide array of devices that include phones, tablets, and laptops on their buying journey, and interact with a wide a range of touchpoints, different purchase paths, and digital “nudges” that all partially influence their final buying decision.
The impact of social media channels has been unprecedented in this new world. For example, according to research by Visa, one in four online purchases are now made via an interaction with a social media platform.
The challenge for retail marketers is effective attribution of the impact of their marketing activities on buying and conversion decisions. And digital is only one part of what is an increasingly complex picture. Just as important is how retail marketers effectively attribute the impact of offline – which ranges from out-of-home to store-based promotions
The need to cut out wasted ad spend is more pressing than ever
Cutting wasted ad spend is a priority for retail marketers at any time. However, this is perhaps even more of a priority for some retailers as the impact of reduced revenue feeds through into spend and budget decisions.
For example, as reported by econsultancy, one of the biggest UK retailers is posting a financial loss for the first time in decades and the recent IPA Bellwether report showed the biggest drop in marketing budgets for 20 years.
Whilst the pandemic is a clear factor in this, there is also the backdrop of radical changes that are taking place in the retail sector as competitive pressures, changing retail business models, and the impact of rapidly shifting consumer preference. And revenues are affected.
A real need for actionable, real-time data that drives marketing results
Research by the Royal Mail revealed a staggering 87 per cent of UK retail purchases are made online, and consumers are taking increasingly complex paths to purchase. Carefully unravelling the impact of each touchpoint – both on and offline – is crucial for retailers and basic measurement approaches like last-click attribution are still being used by many retailers, causing specific channels to be under- or over-valued in the process.
Couple this with the fact that many retailers are working with historical data – that is often weeks or months old – and you have a perfect storm in terms of potential misattribution.
Retail is a fast-moving business. To be successful, retail marketers are waking up to the need for up-to-the-minute data on what creative, media selections and channels are – and aren’t – working across the customer journey. And to do that you need an effective attribution solution.
How retailers can unlock growth with marketing attribution
QueryClick CEO, Chris Liversidge, will be taking part in our Retail & Ecommerce Spotlight on 25 March to discuss this topic in more depth.
Join him to discover why retailers need to invest in marketing attribution in 2021, and how you can achieve a deeper level of granularity with campaign attribution.