Is Your Brand Missing the eCatman Edge?
As e-commerce solidifies its position as a critical revenue growth driver for brands, the transition from in-store strategies to effective online practices presents significant challenges. Organizations must re-evaluate how they operate to take a more omnichannel approach. Central to this transformation, and an underrated element of it, is category management.
Traditionally, category management has focused on optimizing product placement within physical retail environments (e.g., merchandising pet food in the pet aisle) to guide consumers to the right products. Many brands have attempted to “lift and shift” their category management approach to the online landscape, but consumers shop completely differently in-store than they do online. Rather than browsing the pet food aisle in-store, a consumer types “sensitive stomach pet food for large breeds” into a search bar, relying on algorithms to help them find what they need.
If your product can’t be found, your product can’t be bought. According to Forrester Research, “Improving product discovery is one of the most effective ways to have a meaningful, positive impact on digital metrics, with a clearly attributable return.” Brands must adapt to new consumer shopping behaviors to avoid losing search rank, and therefore market share, to competitors.
In our new research piece co-authored with TPG, “eCatman and the Path to Omni-Category Management,” we explore how evolving the position of category manager to e-commerce category manager, or “eCatman,” can help brands effectively navigate the nuances of digital commerce.
Why Does eCatman Matter?
eCatman helps to drive online search excellence by making products findable to consumers. There are a few key areas this role can affect:
- Category Insights: Retailers are constantly looking to improve their onsite categories to make search easier for shoppers. eCatman personas can share insights about how consumers shop to help define and refine product categories.
- Taxonomy and Navigation: The taxonomy and navigation filters on a retailer’s site should align to the word(s) consumers use to search for products. If you don't have an eCatman team, who in your organization will help keep taxonomies updated? One brand that participated in our research partnered with Kroger to improve its online taxonomy; the brand saw both an increase in buy rate for online shoppers which extended to brick-and-mortar, where it realized a double-digit sales increase in its category.
- Keywords: Keywords are critical to winning search, but they also have to match the category words and filters consumers use. eCatman helps to narrow down and share which keywords are most impactful, making sure that products remain discoverable.
Ready to Embrace eCatman?
Here are some key steps brands can take to integrate eCatman into their organizations:
- Determine where to play. Collaborate with leadership to identify which retailers and product categories stand to gain the most from eCatman initiatives. Align your efforts with potential financial impacts and strategic growth opportunities.
- Build expertise. Create internal toolkits that equip your team with essential eCatman insights. Address fundamental questions retailers have regarding online category management, ensuring your team effectively communicates the value of eCatman in decision-making.
- Educate the organization. eCatman teams should play a pivotal role in bridging the knowledge gap between in-store and online shopping dynamics. For instance, in-store promotional strategies like circular ads and endcaps must be translated into digital tactics such as search optimization and user-generated content (UGC). Tools like this Digital Decoder can help translate in-store strategies into online initiatives.
Read the full research report about eCatman for more next steps and insights from brands that have already integrated eCatman into their organizations. eCatman can help your enterprise create intuitive shopping experiences that result in increased market share, overall brand growth, and stronger collaboration with retailer partners.
Lauren Livak Gilbert is executive director of the Digital Shelf Institute, a commerce community that brings together brand manufacturers, retailers and digital experts.
Matt Pierre is a partner at The Partnering Group, a global strategy and general management growth consultancy.
Lauren Livak Gilbert is a recognized e-commerce leader in digital and content strategy, renowned for her role leading the Digital Shelf Institute (DSI), where she connects more than 8,000 industry leaders, shapes industry standards, and hosts the "Unpacking the Digital Shelf" podcast. At Salsify, she worked with over 100 strategic customers helping them develop an overall commerce strategy and vision for their commerce journey, leveraging her work at Johnson & Johnson, where she was the owner of the digital shelf for the consumer family of products for North America.
Matt Pierre is a leader in The Partnering Group’s Digital Commerce, Customer Development and Training and Development practices. His focus is on enabling organizations to drive advantaged growth with tailored digital strategies that are effectively integrated into their commercialization across functional teams.
