In today’s omnichannel landscape, the convergence of online and offline channels has given rise to a new avenue for you to boost sales and expand your reach: retail e-commerce. Let’s explore how any brand, but particularly beverage, refrigerated, and frozen brands can leverage retail e-commerce tools to drive sales by integrating them into their digital marketing strategies.

I co-wrote this article in partnership with Pear Commerce, who is the expert in the emerging retail e-commerce space. Pear created shoppable tools that easily integrate into your own marketing activities, helping brands drive awareness, trial, and purchases at retail.

Understanding Retail E-commerce:

Retail e-commerce refers to the practice of consumers purchasing products from a retailer’s e-commerce site, such as Target.com, instead of directly from your brand’s website. This approach allows brands in physical retail stores to tap into the growing online consumer base. Now why take this approach? It allows you to:

1. Leverage your retail partner inventory and logistics networks instead of your own for beverages, refrigerated, and frozen items.
2. Drive velocity through your retail partners.
3. Make it easier for customers to shop along with their normal online grocery purchase.

I’ve talked with a number of brands who have stopped selling their products on their own direct-to-consumer (DTC) sites because the margins just don’t make sense. With retail e-commerce, you can continue to utilize your digital marketing efforts to drive customers to online and offline channels to purchase, while protecting your margins from the costs and complexities of shipping frozen goods or heavy cans.

The Power of Complementary Channels:

While each channel -DTC, pure play (e.g., Amazon), and retail e-commerce – has its own strengths, combining them can unlock valuable incremental sales and overall brand growth. Brands that strike the right balance among these channels can boost brand awareness and household penetration.

As a brand, it’s important to make it as easy as possible for your customers to purchase. Some prefer to shop on Amazon, others on Walmart.com. You’ll reduce the purchase friction by sharing direct links to purchase on each of these sites and letting your customers choose what they prefer, instead of trying to manipulate them to a certain site, like your own DTC.

Making the Most of Retail E-commerce:

If you’re looking to harness the potential of retail e-commerce, you must adopt the right tools and infrastructure to capitalize on shoppers’ preferences and behaviors. Platforms like Pear provide shoppability and actionable insights that fuel performance marketing. Here are some key features you can leverage:

1. Shoppable Landing Pages and Widgets: Enable quick implementation of shoppable landing pages, widgets, and store locators, allowing frictionless shopper journeys and easy access to purchase options.
2. Multiple Paths to Purchase: Connect brands with various retailers and purchasing options, including Amazon and DTC, providing customers with the flexibility to choose their preferred channel.
3. Daily Inventory Scanning: Ensure customers are only shown in-stock products available for purchase in their area, minimizing frustration caused by out-of-stock links.
4. Customized Retailer Selection: Decide which retailers or purchasing options customers see and control the order in which they are displayed, including your own DTC option.
5. Insights and Performance Optimization: Leverage real-time reporting and shopper behavior data to make informed decisions, improve return on ad spend (ROAS), and build custom audiences for targeted marketing campaigns.

Success Stories:

Many brands have successfully embraced retail e-commerce as a key component of their growth strategy. 

For example, Liquid Death, a water startup valued at $700 million, shifted from a DTC model to leveraging retail and Amazon as their core commerce channels. By offering a Subscribe & Save option through Amazon and retail e-commerce paths to purchase on their PDPs, the brand increased convenience for their loyal customers while simultaneously driving awareness of retail locations selling their products.

Other brands have found success by driving digital traffic to their shoppable store locators, encouraging trial at their preferred retailer before committing to a DTC subscription. These brands can then retarget their retail shoppers with opportunities to convert to subscription, capitalizing on their initial trial experiences to drive growth through multiple channels.

Wrap Up:

In today’s competitive marketplace, you must embrace the potential of retail e-commerce to maximize sales and brand growth. By integrating retail e-commerce tools into your digital marketing strategies, beverage, refrigerated, and frozen brands can tap into the growing trend of online-to-offline consumer behavior and create a seamless shopping experience for customers across channels.