When your PDP conversion rate is dropping below target, what do you normally do?
- Refresh the imagery
- Adjust the call-to-action buttons
- Add FAQs
- Add social proof
The list goes on...
But all of these tactics forget that your customers came to your store for a reason — one that is probably not reflected on your page, breaking the thread running through the customer journey.
Sometimes, your traffic acquisition is simply transactional. Customers find your page on a basic product-related Google search and convert because the price works for them.
Most of the time though, your customers discover and return to you because they find their own values reflected in your brand. Your social media campaigns, home page and emails all emphasise your core values, resonating with your audience and drawing them in.
But rarely do these values appear on the product page. Even less frequently in your promotion strategy.
And the moment they disappear, the purchasing decision reverts back from values-based to price-based.
This becomes a serious problem for brands whose values mean they put quality, the environment, social principles, supply chain decisions or other standards first, as these will often drive their costs and prices up. These prices can be justified to the customer when their values are front and centre alongside the price on the page. But not if they have disappeared...
How eCommerce leaders have successfully merged brand values into promotion strategies
The importance of driving values through promotions has appeared over and over again in our recent market insights activities and webinars.
Will Sowerby at Apex Rides spoke about how every customer interaction is an opportunity to build your brand – and promotions don't need to be a straight-forward price slash. Customers have adapted to look past a red sale banner. Now, you can have a lot more fun with your promotions than you think by wrapping the promotion in an idea – your brand is how you make customers like you, after all.
Many retailers fear discounting of any description. It can be seen as setting dangerous precedents, off-brand, or worse, cheapening it. But in fact, discounting strategies can be built more smartly. Discounting can be used to emphasise brand values.
>>> More from Will Sowerby in "4 unmissable insights: Promotional strategies for sustainable growth"
For VIEVE, as Annabelle Semler-Collery explained, the success of their promotional strategy hinges on making sure that every promotion — whether transactional or free — harks back to brand objectives and strategy, and in many cases, back to VIEVE founder Jamie Genevieve herself.
Other brands can find the same success by ensuring that the context in which their promotions sit echoes their own values, brand messages and principles, whether those are focused on quality, exclusivity, sustainability, or a specific agenda.
>>> More from Annabel Semler-Collery in "Promotions that get people excited again"
Meanwhile, Andy Mulcahy from IMRG described the link between people resonating with and even loving a brand's purpose, and that brand's commercial success.
He looked at it the other way - rather than using values to make promotions work better, IMRG could clearly see that those brands who used values most strategically and emphasized their messages at the right moment could hugely reduce their dependence on discounting in the first place.
>>> More from Andy Mulcahy in "5 top tips for optimizing your promotions"
As consumers become more discerning, they are more attracted to brands that reflect their own values and principles. So when your brand resonates with customers and highlights what it uniquely offers more than simply a low price, they’ll want to support you.
How Nibble uses your brand values to increase your PDP conversion rate
Imagine if your values could be prominent within every purchasing decision.
Not just part of the route to the website, but driven into the customers' thought processes when they're deciding whether to add to basket.
Nibble now gives retailers the option to include compelling brand-specific reasons to buy your product within the negotiation chat.
As soon as a visitor exhibits signs of uncertainty in the conversation — such as questioning the price or submitting lowball offers — Nibble will use Brand Value Statements to remind the customer of your brand’s messaging or the merits of your products, tapping into the same emotions that attracted them to your store in the first place and justifying your price point.
These statements can be entirely written by yourself or composed by generative AI, converting your standard messaging into concise statements, carefully phrased to reflect the very best in negotiation science and behavioural psychology.
Essentially, retailers can now arm Nibble with brand-specific, personalised responses to any customer and deliver personalised conversations in which Nibble loves and defends your brand exactly the way you do.
Why it works, explained by the expert in building winning brands
Richard Hytner is one of the foremost experts in growing brands with purpose. He’s the former worldwide deputy chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, and a renowned professor, author and speaker in building winning brands.
For Richard, Brand Value Statements' real value comes from their ability to remind the customer, right at the point of purchase, of all the reasons they arrived on that page in the first place.
And when well-crafted, they are not just rational reasons. They are also emotional, and fundamental to the brand's DNA. So when a customer is successfully led to purchase on such an engaging, whole-hearted basis and with such a genuine connection, the retailer is much more likely to earn longer term loyalty.
What next?
For more on Brand Value Statements and how they work within Nibble, look at our announcement of the feature here.
Or for insights on how consumer expectations match up to promotions in the ecommerce industry, don’t miss our next regular session of Nibble Table Talks, where we share behind the scenes data you need to know.
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