Ecommerce strategies require a change in tactics

Can you articulate the difference between traditional category management strategies and ecommerce strategies?

If not, you are not alone. Many are perplexed and unable to concisely differentiate between the two.

Type of tactics

The first differentiator comes down to the type of tactics used. Ecommerce calls for more pull tactics when applied to the marketing mix. On the other hand, traditional category management makes use of more pull tactics for the 4 Ps.

To break these tactics down further, consider the fact that push strategies “push” a product to shoppers by creating awareness of this product along the path to purchase. However, pull strategies approach the shoppers differently and rely on them coming to you.

So if we consider a traditional bricks-and-mortar store, shoppers will be faced with every product within a category stocked by their retailer of choice. However, in the ecommerce environment, the path to purchase is determined by the shoppers’ clicks when they go online to browse or shop.

This marks a shift in tactics from push to pull.

ABCDE Model

There is a particularly helpful online strategy known as the ABCDE. This model describes the online shoppers’ path to purchase:

Awareness – Entice and pull you shopper in with your product offering.

Browse – Help your shopper find your product.

Choose – Help your shopper select your product.

Develop – Grow your shopper’s basket.

Experience – Lock them in! Retain your shopper and benefit from repeat purchases.

The model ensures that you bring the right data to the table with the retailer. You will be able to provide the retailer with meaningful insights and show them where there are opportunities along the loyalty funnel from a category perspective.

You will also be in a position to better motivate collaboration, by explaining specific growth opportunities if the retailers share certain types of data.

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