The 2022 Mobile Etailer Battle for Food & Beverage Brands

Introduction

Food & Beverage digital marketing leaders continually look for ways to optimize product pages on etailer sites. One area often overlooked by digital marketing leaders is the etailer traffic difference between mobile and desktop. The new era etailer provides education, entertainment and unique guided shopping experiences all from a mobile device. Effective digital marketing leaders in 2022 must ensure product titles, product-detail-page (PDP) content and descriptions are mobile optimized on etailer sites.

73% of web traffic to brand sites tracked in the Digital IQ Index: Food and Beverages 2021 (Subscription required) was from mobile devices. The significant mobile weight highlights how consumers are shopping the category and engaging with brands. We also see differences in etailer traffic volume between desktop and mobile (See Figure 1).

Figure 1:

In 2021 Walmart.com and Target.com mobile web traffic accounted for over 60% of site visitors. Conversely, Amazon.com the inverse is true with desktop accounting for over 60% of total site traffic.

These differences have implications for how marketers can evaluate mobile product pages in the following ways:

Optimize Etailer Product Titles

Product titles help consumers quickly identify brand names and descriptions. On Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Target.com product titles don’t change for consumers based on mobile versus desktop. Given the product titles don’t change, digital marketing leaders should ensure title copy is limited to the most important information like brand name and size. Ingredient or feature inclusion like bonus packs has increased in product titles to distinguish on the digital shelf. Testing these features allows digital marketing leaders to understand what information improves click-through-rates and distinguish their brands from the 3^rd party and microbrands options.

Integrate Video into Product Detail Pages

Consumers are spending more time watching video content to learn about products. Video adoption highlights the importance of capturing consumers attention with your product page on mobile. Video on PDP’s provide a seamless experience for consumers to learn without having to scroll or find information on the page. Etailers offer video integration but not all brands are taking advantage of this opportunity. Short form video on etailer pages has been limited to product detail pages, but more are beginning to integrate video features in SERP pages. This trend will continue, and brands should ensure top performing products have video integration to aid in conversion and education.

Leverage Infographics to Showcase Important Product Information

Infographics are images with copy to visually showcase information to consumers. Information like ingredients, how-to-use, or sizing helps consumers find products attributes faster. Amazon’s brand Solimo k-cup infographic effectively educates consumers (See Figure 2). The image visually shows the differences between roasts of the k-cups allowing consumers to select the preferred product in their cart. Images don’t impact search rankings, but aide in conversion and make it easier for consumers to compare products on a smaller mobile screen.

Figure 2:

Identify Product Detail Page Text Formatting Improvements

Like a nicely formatted email, it’s easier for consumers to read product information with visual structure. More brands are using capitalized words in “About this item” section to draw attention to claims or important information. This is especially helpful for consumers reviewing product information on a smaller mobile device versus desktop. Unfortunately, etailers offer no font style adjustments like bolding or underlining for page look consistency. However, brands can leverage capitalized letters and hyphens to help organize information for consumers. This should be used sparingly as overuse can make finding details more difficult.

Conclusion

Mobile shopping experiences improvements can increase conversion rates when implemented correctly. Food & Beverage brands must ensure etailer pages are optimized for a smaller screen, especially on etailers with higher mobile traffic like Target.com and Walmart.com. To learn more about how to improve mobile shopping strategy or experiences visit Gartner.com and schedule a call with one of our industry experts.