Best-seller tag on e-comm is as good as celebrity endorsement: Jyothirmayee

“The consumer today is largely driven by product ads. The rise in product ads globally is changing how media is planned and also how consumers are buying. Ecommerce in this age has become a must-play and a must-win frontier for consumer product companies,” said Jyothirmayee, CEO of HiveMinds.  

She also shared that the retail largely, as of today, on e-commerce is at 7 per cent and in the case of more developed economies the share of retail in e-commerce is high for countries like the UK, the US and China. So, in the whole aspect of browsing and buying it's very habit forming and it's going to increase, Jyothirmayee said. 

She also mentioned that in ecommerce itself the larger category is apparel and consumer electronics. “However, in terms of what's growing as of today is beauty products and these trends are rapidly shifting. In India, ecommerce retail share in a few categories is 40%.” 

She further added, “If we look at what is driving all this change, the biggest disruption of today’s time is the Internet. The Internet has disrupted the ecosystem. It's all about scaling up the distribution power and scaling down the time taken. A lot of internet brands are challenging very well-established brands. In this time, fortunes are made and lost like never before.” 

How do we adapt in a time like this to the ecommerce world? 

Talking about the five rules, she explained, “rule number one is that today ecommerce has put the focus back on the product. The whole aspect of distribution power stands neutralized to a lot of extent and most new-age brands and the way they approach e-commerce are changing. For instance, with a good product and fewer units they can reach out to their customers, she said. “The consumer today is less emotional and more rational and diminishing on the loyalty. In this kind of world, product features are as important as brand loyalty.”

“Rule number two is test and learn, adapt and grow. It's very much possible for us today to do price elasticity studies or a very quick three-day period to understand whether a 199 product is going to sell better. If you continue to invent and innovate, it can change the game and that's the new rule and that's the name of the game as of today.” 

Talking about rule number 3, she said the ‘Bestseller Tag’ is the new celebrity. “At the point of sale, best-seller tags sway. The best seller tag is as good as celebrity endorsement. Rule number four is a holy confluence of sales and marketing. In the digital world, you can give more discounts and you can run media promos for the discount and rapidly liquidate and this again changes the game.”

“Rule number five is chasing the stars. Brands listed on ecommerce would know how important customer reviews are. These opinions and volume of feedback are more important than the source of feedback.”

After applying all the rules, what's next? She mentioned, “We are deploying automated bid management market leaders for efficiency. Bidding optimization is to increase coverage,” Jyothirmayee said as she concluded the session.