Product content key to e-commerce success? – report by 1WorldSync

In today’s e-commerce, product content is crucial. This is one of the most important findings brought by the latest fourth edition of the “Consumer Product Content Benchmark 2024” report conducted by 1WorldSync. The data collected in the report shows how clients consume product content at different stages of the purchase path, as well as which of their content elements have the greatest impact on purchase decisions.

While offline still higher, online is growing strongly in strength

We are seeing changes in consumer behavior all the time. And while in terms of overall retail sales, in-store shopping maintains its lead over e-commerce, according to the Consumer Product Content Benchmark 2024 report, in 2024 as many as 73% of consumers purchased online products that they had previously bought exclusively or primarily in traditional stores. This is an increase of 7% compared to 2023.

The biggest shifts toward online shopping were in categories such as apparel and accessories, health and personal care, cosmetics and perfumes, and packaged foods. New channels with online shopping capabilities are also emerging all the time. The latest example is TikTok Shop, which makes TikTok no longer just a social medium, but also an online platform on which to buy products. According to the report, as many as 26% of consumers in general and 42% of those aged 18-34 have already purchased products through the store available on TikTok.

Poor product content means poor sales

Product price is the main determinant of purchase decisions, but what else influences it? It turns out that when it comes to online shopping, the quality of product content is of great importance. It far surpasses brand awareness and user-generated content. Not to mention the recommendations of influencers (which, however – besides price – are the most important for consumers aged 25-34, it’s worth remembering).

Source: report “Consumer Product Content Benchmark 2024”

As many as 8 in 10 consumers (78%) abandon a purchase if the product information on an e-store is incomplete or of poor quality! What’s more, nearly half of respondents admit that attractive and detailed content on the website encouraged them to buy a product they hadn’t even considered buying before. Product content is definitely no longer just an add-on to merchandise, but one of its key elements.

Discovery, aling and validate

AThe authors of the report distinguish three stages on the customer’s purchase path where product content is crucial. These are:

1. Discover – content grabs the customer’s attention and allows the product to be found in a search engine or on a store page.
2. Align – product details must hit the consumer’s needs, emotions and expectations.
3. Validate – customers want confirmation of their choices in reviews and ratings from users who have previously bought the same product.

Each of these stages requires a different type of content, and neglecting any of them means a real risk of lost sales. Many companies mistakenly focus on only one or two aspects. Sometimes, for example, they invest huge resources in advertising campaigns and positioning in marketplaces, but fail to provide content that will keep the customer on the product page. Other times they create great product pages, but don’t care about their visibility in the store’s search engine.

Success is not about perfecting one area, but about balancing visibility, quality and authenticity of content. Those retailers who not only attract the customer’s attention, but also keep it and convince the customer to add the product to the shopping cart will win. And this all depends on properly prepared content.

Discovery

Consumers don’t just search for one product and click buy. The research behind a purchase is more complex. Before making a significant purchase, 44% of shoppers search 2-3 products, and 66% of shoppers check 2-3 sites. The percentage of shoppers who search more than 4 sites before making a significant purchase has increased by 6% compared to 2023 (from 20% to 26%), meaning that research is becoming even more thorough.

However, it’s not enough to have great content in just one channel – at the discovery stage, as many as 81% of consumers expect it to be available across all channels of a given retailer (in-store, e-commerce, app or ads).

Align

While product content is important at every stage, it matters most when consumers begin an in-depth evaluation of a product. Product detail pages (PDPs) are the most important places customers look when searching for data. All elements of a product detail page, from photos to descriptions, should combine to create a complete picture of what a product or brand offers.

However, some elements capture customers’ attention more than others. Consumers spend the most time reviewing a product’s description, features and specifications, and then check out ratings and reviews from other customers, product photos, comparison tables, detailed content (such as videos), frequently asked questions and product customization options.

Images and rich media are extremely important in finalizing the sales process – 51% of customers say that high-quality product content (such as videos, 360-degree images, augmented reality) convinced them to buy something they didn’t initially think they needed or wanted.

Validate

PDP is incomplete for consumers without user generated content (UGC) directly from other customers or users. These include, but are not limited to: ratings and reviews, photos, videos, frequently asked questions (FAQs).

65% of consumers read reviews often or always. And as many as 67% said that customer ratings and reviews, as well as other UGC content such as videos and photos, convinced them to buy a product they didn’t think they needed or wanted.

Remarkably, as many as 77% of consumers who frequently grocery shop online always or often read other customers’ reviews.

Effective product content tool

Product Information Management (PIM) tools are designed to effectively manage product content across all sales channels. One of the best is Akeneo PIM. This solution allows, among other things:

• centrally manage and standardize product information;
• controlling the quality of this information (e.g., checking the completeness of content before publication);
• automatic distribution of content to different sales channels (online store, marketplace, mobile apps, traditional stores);
• managing content in multiple languages and versions.

With the help of Akeneo PIM, you can accelerate time-to-market, increase conversions and reduce returns, because customers can get a much better idea of what they are buying before they buy. This is especially important in an omnichannel world, where customers compare products across multiple channels.

The study on which the “Consumer Product Content Benchmark 2024” report is based was conducted online by 1WorldSync in August 2024, among a random, representative sample of 1,750 adult consumers from the US and Canada.