comparison search engines advanced: more tips for experienced online sellers

ComparisonShopping Engines Advanced

More Tips for Experienced Online Sellers

IMA Las Vegas | August 14, 2012

1Ryan Douglas - Product Manager, SingleFeed

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• Investing in your Product Data• All About Google Shopping• How to Pay to Play, Profitably• Recap• Q&A

Overview

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• Over 6 years hands on ecommerce experience• At SingleFeed – Customer Development and Full

Service Account Management• Working directly with hundreds of retailers

• PlumberSurplus.com – Online Marketing for Internet Retailer Hot 100 Retailer.• From 10 orders a day in a garage to 500+ orders a

day with 3 locations• Remember - I used to be in your shoes!

Personal Bio

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• Leading data feed management tool for small and medium sized retailers

• Founded in 2006 True Ventures, Acquired in 2011 by Vendio

• Trusted Partner – To Google and many of the leading shopping engines

• Core Customer - Retailers doing $250K to $20M• Pricing – Flat Rate Service plans from $99/mo

About SingleFeed

Investing in Your Product DataData Quality Advice for CSEs & More

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• Enter the “Feed Matrix”• Most CSEs use 10-15 fields or more

• Product Title, Description, UPC, Color…• Every CSE has different requirements - download feed spec’s

from each one and follow instructions• Common and unique data fields between each CSE• File formats – csv, txt, xml, etc

• Use Excel to open/create/read files.

• Get a Developer to help create a feed generation script• Re-useable solution for your website

• Data Feed Management Services• Streamline/automate the process.• SingleFeed helps in this area

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Data feed Requirements

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• Set a “data standard”• Give your data Integrity!• Any new fields to add?

• Begin Requiring New Fields like UPC, Brand/Manufacturer, model number

• Create a plan to update existing products• Set a Goal and a Target Finish Date

• Separate Out Attributes into New Fields• Color, Model Number, Brand• Extremely useful to have this data “faceted”

• Demand for better product data from vendors or invest in it and don’t give it away

Create a Data Entry Process

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• On Product detail pages for SEO• Print and Online Catalogs• Site Search & Personalization Tools• Sitemaps for Search Engines• In Email Newsletters/Campaigns• Comparison Shopping Engines

• Often forgotten!

How is your Product Data Used?

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• Figure out what’s relevant to your products

• Find Keywords from your analytics• Typically includes:

• Brand/Manufacturer• Model Numbers• Colors and Sizes• Gender• Keyword Phrases

What Goes In a Title?

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• Logitech K350 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse [brand] [model] [feature] [keyword phrase]

• Vizio 47” LCD TV E470V[brand] [size] [keyword phrase] [model]

• Levi’s Women’s 501 Dark Wash Denim Jeans [brand] [gender] [model] [color] [keyword phrase]

Mix and Match Components

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• TDK 16x 4.7gb 50 pack• TDK DVD-R Storage Media 16x 4.7gb 50 pack

• Arturo Fuente Chateau• Arturo Fuente Chateau Cigars Box of 50

• Mephisto Hurrikan• Mephisto Hurrikan Men’s Dress Shoe

Use Those Keywords!

All About Google ShoppingFrom Free to Paid – What you need to

know

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Bye Bye Free Traffic

• Effective October 1 – Google Shopping will change to a cost per click model to merchants• You can bid as low as $0.01 per product

• Bidding goes through Google AdWords platform• Feeds still submitted to Google Merchant Center• Enroll in new Product Listing Ads format (PLA) by

Aug 15 to receive $100 in free clicks and 10% off your bill through the end of 2012• Must list 100% of your items to qualify

www.singlefeed.com (800) 705 8852

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Google Search Results

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Connecting Google AdWords

www.singlefeed.com (800) 705 8852

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Connecting Google AdWords

www.singlefeed.com (800) 705 8852

How to Pay to Play, ProfitablyQuantitative Optimization Advice for CSEs

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Tips to Maximize Performance

1. Set Budgets – • Prevent ad spend from running away uncontrollably. • Start w/ small budgets and increase them to avoid

overspend.

2. Bid 1-10 cents higher than default –• Bids are set at a default amount by the category

(set by the CSE)• Bid up slightly to jump above other sellers who are

bidding the default rate

Tips to Maximize Performance

1. Filter out Poor Performers – • Review reporting tools to find low ROI products• Remove them to re-allocate budget to better

performing products• SingleFeed has automated tools for this

2. Filter out Select Products –• By brand/mfr, category, product margin, etc• Send 100% of products to free/flat rate CSEs, cut

back on paid CSEs

How Can SingleFeed Help?

WWW.SINGLEFEED.COM

Use SingleFeed Reports to track SKU-level conversion.• One-click SKU-suppression rules and filters for poor performing products.• Compare click and conversion trends for multiple products, side-by-side.• See “spark-line” trends for top products.• Export functionality to further slice and dice your data.• Track Conversions & Revenue, not available within all CSE reports

Measuring Success

WWW.SINGLEFEED.COM

• Conversion tracking per CSE – very helpful!• Use your own Analytics – Google Analytics (free)• Monitor closely and regularly• Don’t “set it and forget it”• Watch your Metrics

• Develop targets – set goals that are realistic• Measure against other channels – SEM/SEO/etc

• Each CSE behaves differently – don’t treat them the same• Determine profitability for your products

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Key Take Aways

• Invest In your Product Data• Don’t set it and forget it• No “Magic One Size Fits All” Solution• Don’t submit every product to paid CSEs• Try different product titles• Submit, Analyze, Optimize, Repeat.

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Question and Answer

Contact InfoRyan Douglas

ryan@singlefeed.com800-705-8852 ext 201www.SingleFeed.com

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