{"id":26261,"date":"2015-12-02T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-02T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/content26.com\/?p=26261"},"modified":"2017-02-14T11:18:57","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T19:18:57","slug":"ten-ways-maximize-online-baby-product-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/987654321.space\/c26_dev\/blog\/ten-ways-maximize-online-baby-product-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Ways to Maximize Online Baby Product Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KeithAnderson\"In th<\/em>is guest post, Profitero’s\u00a0VP <\/span><\/span>of <\/span><\/span>Strategy & Insights\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Keith Anderson offers expert advice about how to build a powerful online presence in the baby product “aisle”. As more shoppers turn to online retailers to research baby products for in-store and online purchases and as online grocery baskets are more frequently filled with packages of baby milk, baby food, and diapers, this couldn’t be a better time to learn\u00a0how to take advantage of this growing market.<\/em><\/p>\n

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10<\/span><\/span> Keys to Maximizing Online Baby Product Sales<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

With baby milk indexing as the #1 item in the online grocery baskets of first-time internet shoppers, and baby food and diapers\/nappies also high on the list<\/a>, it\u2019s clear the online baby product category is a gateway to ecommerce shopping.<\/p>\n

\"Baby-Product-Sales\"<\/p>\n

But what are the keys to success for brands and retailers seeking to maximize online baby product sales and take full advantage of the opportunity? Here are 10 guidelines to consider:
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1. Time savings and convenience.<\/h3>\n

<\/b> New parents are generally on overload, and online shopping for baby products can save them enormous amounts of time and energy. As Philip Walker, Senior eCommerce Manager at Danone Europe, observed when I spoke to him recently. \u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that many parents turn to online shopping. After the birth of child, they\u2019re exhausted and overwhelmed. New mothers are four times more likely to buy their groceries online than the average person.\u201d
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2. Emotional resonance.<\/h3>\n

<\/b><\/i><\/b> Products need to be regarded as safe and effective, part of the reason reviews are so critical in this category. What pleases one set of parents is likely to please another.
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3. Discoverability.<\/h3>\n

<\/b> To maximize sales results, products need to be ranked prominently in a retailer\u2019s search results. New data from BloomReach underscores that Amazon is the premier product search engine\u2014with 44% of consumers<\/a> reporting they start their product searches on Amazon, far more than on search engines or on other retail sites. (And no wonder, 75% of consumers<\/a> say Amazon does the best job of personalizing their shopping experience).
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4. Value.<\/h3>\n

<\/b> Clearly, this is always a factor in buying decisions, but all the more so when a baby has just been born, and consumption patterns adapt to support a growing household. Products and programs that help new parents feel good about their choices can help drive purchases. For the record, the average price for top 100 baby products on Amazon in the U.S. is $20.05, and \u00a317.69 in the U.K<\/a>.
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5. Ratings and reviews.<\/h3>\n

<\/b> As mentioned, these are increasingly essential to a product\u2019s success. Profitero\u2019s Amazon FastMovers report shows that the top 10 bestsellers in the baby products category averages twice as many reviews as top 100 products as a whole<\/a>. Furthermore, for the top 100 bestsellers on Amazon on the U.S., the average review count increased by 5% from 1,363 in August 2015 to 1,434 in September<\/a>. A word of caution, though: ratings and reviews can be a double-edged sword. Amazon had to go back to the drawing board after the launch of its Elements line of own-label diapers in early 2015\u2014the result of an accumulation of unfavorable reviews.
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6. Complete content.<\/h3>\n

<\/b> Product pages that feature benefits, ingredients, safety highlights and other information need to be complete, accurate, and timely. They should also be branded and SEO-optimized, and the brand team should pay special attention to the content of the Amazon site. According to content26 President\u00a0Mark White<\/a>, \u201cBaby brands need to begin using content to create and maintain a great customer experience on their Amazon product pages or they will lose customer acquisition and sales opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that even though a brand team may agree with this observation in theory, its resources may be stretched too thinly to keep content complete and current. According to content26, more than half (57%) <\/a>of the top-selling baby brands on Amazon have invested in enhanced content on Amazon, but only 27.5% of baby brands have updated their A+ content within the past 15 months.
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7. Subscription eligibility.<\/h3>\n

<\/b> Since baby consumables like formula and diapers are highly replenishable, subscription programs like Amazon\u2019s Subscribe & Save let parents \u201cset it and forget it\u201d and move on to the next parenting challenge (67% of diaper products on Amazon in the U.S. are currently eligible for Subscribe & Save<\/a>). And by locking a household into a given retailer and brand, sometimes for many months, these programs effectively remove them from the transaction-by-transaction competition within the category. Subscription programs have been so successful that some brick-and-mortar retailers are beginning to emulate them.
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8. Deal sharing sites.<\/h3>\n

<\/b> Many smart parents routinely consult deal-sharing sites such as Slickdeals. Astute marketers have had success planting promotions on this type of site, as well as social media sites that drive consumers directly to an online retailer\u2019s site.
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9. Secure packaging and optimized pack configuration.<\/h3>\n

<\/b> Baby formula and other products with leakage potential need special attention in order to minimize the risk of damaged product. Also, new programs such as Amazon Frustration Free Packaging help save packaging material and improve the economics of doorstep delivery for both retailers and brands. And consumers\u00a0are\u00a0very happy with the easy-to-open packages.<\/p>\n

While programs like this are at first costly to implement, they hold the potential for significant savings over the long term.
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10. Actionable intelligence.<\/h3>\n

<\/b> Cost comparison and product promotions are often cited by consumers as reasons for switching online baby brands<\/a>. To succeed in this environment, brands and retailers need to be able to monitor competitor pricing and promotions on a continuous basis, and gain real-time insights from this intelligence. It\u2019s the best way to maintain a competitive edge in an ever-changing online marketplace where, as Walker states, \u201cBoth brands and retailers must think about how they can differentiate their online proposition to appeal to new mums and have strategies for locking in their lifetime loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this guest post, Profitero’s\u00a0VP of Strategy & Insights\u00a0Keith Anderson offers expert advice about how to build a powerful online…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":26512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[789],"tags":[1334,23,909,875,1423],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n