6 Tactics to Better Manage Your Comparison Shopping Engines

transcript

ClearSaleingTM Confidential

October 31, 2007

The ClearSaleingTM Webinar Series

6 Tactics to Better Manage Your Comparison Shopping Engines This Holiday Season

Presented by Adam Goldberg a former Google Insider and Co-Founder of ClearSaleingTM

The 6 tactics

1. How to Effectively Manage All of Your Comparison Shopping Engines in One, Simple Dashboard

2. How to Select an Appropriate Comparison Shopping Engine

3. If Your Comparison Shopping Engines Should Be Managed In House or if They Should Be Outsourced

4. How to Determine the Most Effective Evaluation Criteria for Outsourcing Your Comparison Shopping Engines

5. How Comparison Shopping Engines Will Make Your Overall Online Advertising More Productive

6. How to Utilize the Best Reporting Requirements for Optimal Results

3 phases of Comparison Shopping Engines

» Set-up– Unsophisticated vs. Sophisticated

» Management Tools– Unsophisticated vs. Sophisticated

» Management Techniques– Unsophisticated vs. Sophisticated

Set-up Process

In-house set-up process

Feed Configure

• You need to establish relationships with each engine• Multiple points of failure• Need knowledge of each engines processes• Multiple conversion tracking codes

Outsourced set-up process

Feed ConfigureFeed

Provider

• Relationship with your feed provider • One point of failure• Only have to worry about creating 1 feed• May be able to utilize a single tracking solution

Configure

» Engines have up to 24 data points per product they collect

» Each have different nomenclature– Pricegrabber: Y = available– Nextag: Yes = available– Shopping: In stock = available

» Categories– Electronic -> Personal Audio -> Clock Radios– Home & Garden -> Kitchen– Electronics -> Home Audio -> Other

Configure

Configure con’t

» Setting bids– Bid the category minimum or bid for top position?– Add a logo?– Category vs. SKU level bidding?– CPA vs. CPC?

Management Tools

Optimization: bid, ad dollar allocation, removal

Unsophisticated SophisticatedSet it

• Does a change in bid increase performance?• Should I spend more on CSE X vs. Y?• Should I remove product X from my feed?

Reporting: category level vs. SKU level

• What SKUs helped and which hurt the category?• Are those actual sales dollars or assumed dollars?

SKU level reporting with profit calculation

• SKU level vs. category level • Actual revenue vs. assumed revenue• True ROI: Return On Investment vs. Assumed Revenue On Investment

CSE reporting vs. advertising dashboard

Alerts

Why use alerts?

» Impossible to keep your eye on 10,000’s of SKUs

» Saves time by allowing you to focus

» Insurance against human error

» Ability to automate responses to alerts– Sophisticated companies automate optimizations based on alerts

Management Techniques

Never underestimate the value of air conditioning

Should I close the doors to save on my electric bill?

Purchase Path ™

Comparison Shopping Engine Optimization

2 feeds to one CSE

ksMaximum Budget Remaining Budget

CSE metrics are flawed

» Assumed Revenue can increase…Profit can decrease

» Conversion Rate can increase…Profit can decrease

» CPA or Cost Per Conversion can decrease…Profit can decrease

» Sales can increase…Profit can decrease

» ROAS can increase…Profit can decrease

Adam S. Goldberg

adam.goldberg@clearsaleing.com

1.800.592.0463

Blog: www.clearsaleing.com/blog

6 Tactics to Better Manage Your Comparison Shopping Engines

Technology