Shopping Search Tactics An in-depth look at the technology we've developed to track Shopping Search Performance

Shopping Search Difficulties Rising CPC Poor tracking tools included Analytics vendors don't “Get it right” Too many individualized feeds ROI is hard to calculate correctly More and more competitors Rules constantly evolve

Our Four Step Program Throw caution to the wind Scale back Track data Develop technology to properly target the exact products to send in each feed

Shopping Engines we use FroogleFree (time to create feed) Bizrate / ShopzillaPPC NexTagPPC Shopping.comPPC PricegrabberPPC Others will be added as we get the support staff in place.

Build a strong foundation The key is knowing your clicks and sales associated with them We use a redirection (301) on our own site A cookie is set IP / UserAgent info is also gathered, and it's all logged in a db table

Weight of Multiple Clicks Must decide how much weight each of multiple clicks gets First one, last one, product that sold only This can be a judgement call, but it will happen, so plan early

Fixing Irregularities Multiple clicks of the same product? Timeframe to discount them vs count again? Bot clicks? Seasonality? Each engine handles click counts a little different.

Data Analysis Step

Data Charting 2,160% SHOPPIN 11,796% NEXTAG 6,000% PRICEGR 7,333% BIZRATE 10,916% BIZRATE 16,413% BIZRATE 171,333% BIZRATE ROIChargesClicksNetSKUSite

Hidden Costs to Consider Boxes Order processing Merchant account fees Warehousing costs Drop ship fees Call center staff Packing materials Any other expenses, such as electricity, server upgrades, etc.

Do the math GP - (CPC * Clicks) – (Other related expenses) Calculate the cost of each sale vs Net Profit Take a look at problem items Watch for new competitors Set goal ROI numbers Track as closely as possible Drop poorly producing products Work on your conversion rates

Smart Feeds Show Profit Evaluated ROI after 3 months List Everything ROI: 110% Scale Back ROI: 185% Data Tracked ROI: Grew from 135% first month to 1250% by 3 rd month and still holding in the range

Watch Those Competitors

Direct Shopping Engine Sales Direct is easiest to track Someone clicks on a product and buys on the same visit Same user at the same computer comes back later and buys Just set a cookie when you see a referral from a shopping engine Track that user to purchase at any time while that cookie is valid

Indirect Shopping Engine Sales Indirect can be for a number of reasons When your merchant ratings are low (new), customers tend to call to order “ to friend” Ask them where they found your product Set a cookie on the “ to friend” inbound link Other touch points for data gathering

Overall effect on sales

New Customers Shopping engines currently bring us 18% of our new customers Compare that to AdWords (4%), MSN (6%), Yahoo (9%) 22% of our repeat customers arrive through shopping engines

Conclusions Track as much as you can, but don't rely on an analytics package The more you know about your own sales process and the costs involved in an order, the better you can track ROI back to the source. Set goals and stick to them, even if that means you need to drop your favorite products out of the feeds.

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