When’s the last time you had to make someone else’s purchase for them? Do your parents struggle with online shopping and frequently ask for help? Do your children need new school tech but are not sure of the going trends? As if it isn’t hard enough to make your own decisions, making decisions for others can be just as tricky and complex.
I recently spoke to my cousin about the jobs she’s taken on while home from college. She loves odds and ends jobs, and in a growing gig economy fueled by the digital growth caused by the pandemic, she is enjoying the work Instacart takes her on. If you haven’t tried or heard of Instacart, it is quick, convenient app-based shopping from the comfort of your home. But from the fulfillment side, several factors are working against those doing the shopping. Instacart order volume has grown over 150% in the past 12 months, so with such high demand, shoppers need to stay focused and locked into completing orders quickly and correctly.
My cousin is a bright, go-getter that is driven by incentive and praise. Even with the toolkit she wields, she’s told me on numerous occasions that her shopping trips are impeded by hesitancy and barriers. Some of these barriers include purchasing from categories she’s never shopped from before. Adult Diapers, Organic Pet Food, any plant-based cleaning agent under the sun; you name it! This prompts the question—is the category shopper as easy to define in today’s marketplace? How are brands immediately found by those who’ve never shopped the space?
Brands need to be predictive in an ever-changing market. Our own, Ian Elmer, spoke of the necessary attention for clear goals for behavior in brick and mortar stores from a recent Blog this year. Reducing barriers will ease shopping and navigation at shelf. Making brands’ pop’ and drive immediate intrigue is the end goal of enticing new users of a brand that would otherwise be overlooked. In my cousin’s case, making packaging clear and easy to discern is most important when shopping the category.
In the digital space, ‘shelf’ presence is complicated, with many suppliers and sellers saturating the market. Choice architecture is nuanced online as shoppers need to navigate their way in the e-Commerce space. Whether you are buying eye cream from an independent seller or a tablet from an e-Commerce titan, findability needs to be immediate and with limited barriers. Knowing your audience’s behavior, or perhaps predicting your audience’s behavior, could benefit a product’s presence in its digital space.
Behaviorally recognizes the importance here and has developed a tool to define and diagnose visual content on e-Commerce Product Detail Pages. We’ve recently launched our Flash.PDP™ methodology, keen on applying visual recognition AI to optimize and drive sales at the digital shelf. Flash.PDP™ is an always-on alert system, available by subscription, that uses cutting-edge image recognition AI and leverages our extensive image database to monitor brand visual content on e-Commerce Product Detail Pages.
Brands are alerted in real-time when their visual content is deficient and provided with the diagnostics needed to optimize it and drive sales. Forward-thinking and a clear mission for brands will be imperative as e-Commerce grows increasingly complex and challenging for brands to manage. Behaviorally is here to partner up and positively shift growth at-shelf, both in retailers and e-tailers alike.
The Author
Nicholas Licitra is an Insights Manager at Behaviorally (formerly PRS). Nick is based in Teaneck and works on a host of categories in US, European, and Latin American markets.
With a degree in Marketing and Music from the College of New Jersey, Nicholas pairs new-age market research experience with simple artistry of composition and aesthetics to understand the narrative a brand’s packaging articulates.
Follow Nicholas on Twitter @NickLicitra or connect with him on LinkedIn here.
