The need for digital product content, including product information and images, follows a chain of demand. As consumers incorporate more research into their paths to purchase, they expect access to consistent, compelling and accurate product information. This is especially true in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. According to a Google study, shoppers use an average of 7.3 sources of information to make a grocery purchasing decision.
For brands and retailers, providing digital product information before, during and after the trip to the grocery store is critical to drive sales.
Without the right product content, such as product images, ingredients, warnings, dimensions, marketing claims and more, products are more likely to be left off the list, sales lost to competitors, and basket size — be it in-store or online — more meager.
To avoid a sales drought resulting from a lack of digital content, retailers are amplifying their demands to manufacturers to provide more types of digital product content, in more formats, faster than ever before. Manufacturer account teams are on the receiving end of these requests, but they aren’t the only ones at CPG companies who realize the need for digital content.
Digital marketing teams across the CPG landscape are keyed in on the impact that digital product content has on engaging shoppers and driving sales.
Here’s why CPG manufacturers are prioritizing digital product content initiatives for their retail customers and their own corporate marketing.
Content for Retail Customers
In order to promote visibility and sales of their products while maintaining strong relationships with retail customers, manufacturers must provide the digital content that retailers need to market and sell their products. Due to the proliferation of digital technology in the retail industry, the variances and requirements for this content can be highly complex, depending on the technologies and platforms for which the content is being used. From retailers’ e-commerce sites and mobile apps to digital coupons and circulars, digital product content is not one-size-fits-all.
From requests that span file formats to product positioning in images to the types of information provided per product, highly specific requests from each retailer can add up to a lot of extra work for manufacturers.
With digital product content being crucial to speed to market, shopper loyalty and sales, it’s in the manufacturer’s best interests to provide this content, and provide it quickly.
Content for Corporate Marketing
Digital opens nearly limitless opportunity to engage shoppers; and a shopper engagement strategy is not exclusive to retailers. More brands today — even if direct-to-consumer is a marginal or nonexistent revenue stream for them — are refreshing their brand identities, bolstering brand loyalty and adding value to consumers in new ways through digital.
As mentioned earlier, with shoppers leveraging approximately 7.3 sources of information to make a grocery purchasing decision, it’s imperative that brands offer an authoritative source of product information during the path to purchase. Corporate marketing teams realize that they cannot simply provide content to retailers to distribute to consumers — brand marketers are now a fixture on the chain of demand and must provide this content to shoppers directly via websites, mobile apps, social media and other touchpoints.
Manufacturers also depend on digital product content for other critical business processes, including category management, market research and logistics.
The Solution
Since the demand and complexity of digital product content continues to trend upward, many CPG manufacturers are turning to digital content partners to help them create, maintain and distribute their product information. In doing so, manufacturers free up internal resources, amplify product visibility and strengthen relationships with both retailers and shoppers. Above all, better availability of digital product content leads to increased sales.
Manufacturers are invested in providing compelling shopping experiences to consumers, either directly or through their retail customers. Digital product content is the foundation of this experience. With the right product content strategy, manufacturers can rise to the challenge and keep their customers — both retailers and shoppers — happy.