Visitors to consumer package goods (CPG) e-commerce websites spend 37% more in retail stores than consumers who do not visit the brand sites, according to a Jan. 30 study by comScore, Accenture and dunnhumbyUSA. Additionally, visitors to a CPG website
complete 41% more transactions than non-visitors, the study found.
According to the researchers, the brand websites represent an underutilized tool for building customer loyalty and interest in CPG products, where 64% of the top CPG brands generate less than 100,000 visitors per month. The researchers suggest that by personalizing the online content, the brands can significantly improve in-store purchases.
“There are clearly distinct needs for different demographic
or psychographic aspects, so folks coming in from a coupon-related
search should have a different user experience than those looking for
overall brand information,” said Mike Zeman, comScore VP of
marketing solutions.
The study, “Are Your CPG Brands Maximizing the Return on Your Digital Investment?” was based on data from a panel of one million U.S. Internet users who had their online activity and retail purchasing behavior tracked. It found that online visitors to brand websites also spent 53% more in the CPG category than non-visitors.
Zeman said he expects e-commerce to be more explicitly addressed in the next wave of the CPG research, including how different digital touchpoints influence online buying. While the CPG sector has been slow to embrace e-commerce in general, that has fast been changing.
“In meetings with CPG brands across the country one of the first three questions that we get is around e-commerce, with brands asking do they build it out themselves, or maybe partner with folks like Amazon,” Zeman said.
With this research demonstrating the impact targeted digital marketing can have on CPG buying behavior, Zeman said he expects interest in e-commerce in this sector to quickly grow.
