Social Commerce Index

Second ReportPublished November, 2014

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SECOND REPORT: NOV 2014

OVERVIEWAs the holidays approach, retailers are turning to social shopping sites including Pinterest, Polyvore, Houzz, and Wanelo to ensure that their products are found wherever consumers shop. Brands that can both position their products to be readily discoverable on social sites and provide a seamless shopping experience will stand to benefit. In the second installment of the DataPop and Kenshoo Social Commerce Index (SCI), marketers get insight into three aspects of this growing marketing opportunity: (1) which retailers are leading the charge in social commerce, (2) what type of content is driving engagement, and (3) which strategies increase product discoverability on social shopping sites.

RETAILERS ARE PURSUING THE SOCIAL COMMERCE OPPORTUNITYSocial commerce — the practice of leveraging social media sites to drive sales — is on the rise, with a 60% year-over-year increase in revenue originating from social. The increase is even larger when considering the impact of social commerce on offline sales. Given this growth, 42% of retailers are already pursuing social commerce efforts, and the competition is heating up to secure social commerce share of voice. This edition of SCI is focused on evaluating what retailers are doing today when it comes to the two critical metrics for success in social commerce: discoverability and engagement.

DISCOVERABILITY AND ENGAGEMENTDiscoverability refers to a retailer’s posts being easily found by consumers, either through searches or through feeds which the social sites personalize for each user. Engagement measures the extent to which a consumer interacts with a social posts, through behavior such as Likes, Re-Pins, Comments, Shares, Follows and Saves.

13 VERTICALS AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PINS, POSTS, KEYWORDS AND PRODUCTS ANALYZEDTo create meaningful benchmarks for these two metrics, DataPop and Kenshoo leveraged proprietary analytics to evaluate tens of thousands of Pins and social posts. The posts spanned 13 retail verticals and covered thousands of products most relevant to consumer intents as indicated by keywords. Using the findings from this diverse data set, retailers can benchmark their progress towards driving deeper consumer engagement and discoverability on social commerce sites today.

60YEAR-OVER-YEARINCREASE INREVENUEORIGINATING FROM

%

SOCIAL

OF KEYWORDS POSTSPINSTENS OF 1000s

&RETAIL VERTICALS

13

1 Workman, Brandon, Adler, Emily (2014). “THE SOCIAL-COMMERCE REPORT: Social Networks Are Driving More Online Sales And Influencing Offline Purchases”. Business Insider.2 Polk, Jennifer (2013). “How to Turn Social Marketing Activities Into Social Commerce”. Gartner, Inc.

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SECOND REPORT: NOV 2014

Once a social post reaches a consumer, the image plays a critical role in capturing the consumer’s attention. However, in order to first reach a consumer, the post has to be discoverable, or identified by the social site as relevant to the consumer’s need. To be discoverable on sites such as Pinterest and Polyvore, retailers need to connect the merchandizing of their offerings in social with how consumers are searching for products in these channels. Emphasizing relevance has been a core best practice for SEO practitioners for years, and this approach translates directly into Pinterest search and home feed listings. Pinterest recently highlighted this as a way for retailers to increase discoverability within the social media site.

Using proprietary semantic technology to analyze social posts across 13 retail verticals, DataPop and Kenshoo identified that using descriptive language in post titles consistently contributed to high rankings within social site search results. As an example, when looking at the top ranking posts for women’s fashion and home & garden, descriptive attributes such as product type and color were prominent in the titles.

FINDING #1: DISCOVERABILITY: RETAILERS THAT ALIGN CONTENT WITH CONSUMER INTENT ARE MORE DISCOVERABLE

Optimizing your Pin description can have a dramatic effect on Pinterest search impressions. Try to anticipate what Pinners might be looking for and include these terms in your Pin descriptions. Make sure the description also includes any other important details about the Pin.3

© DataPop & Kenshoo Social Commerce Index, 2nd Report

FINDING #2ENGAGEMENT: PRODUCT POSTS LEAD THE CHARGE ON ENGAGING CONSUMERSPinterest’s new business analytics now shows marketers which of their Pins are most engaging, that is, the Pins that drive the highest number of “Likes” and “re-Pins.” In aggregate, over 70% of the most engaging Pins are those that focus on a specific product — versus Pins that focus on brand-building and lifestyle content. This data suggests that while retailers should continue to pursue brand-building activities on Pinterest and similar social sites — consumers are also eagerly engaging with product specific content. Retailers should therefore make product information readily accessible. Within product content, the image itself remains a top driver of engagement. Images that have an authentic setting versus a white background drive 159% more Likes and Re-Pins.

70%

RELATED PINS

OF THE MOST

PRODUCTPINS ARE ENGAGING

FINDING #3TOOLS: RICHER INFORMATION DRIVES BETTER ENGAGEMENT

Social sites are constantly rolling out tools to make content more detailed and therefore more customized to a consumer search. In 2013 Pinterest introduced “Rich Pins,” a feature that allows retailers to add price, availability, and custom titles to product Pins. In DataPop and Kenshoo’s analysis of a retailer’s most successful product Pins, Rich Pins drove 20% more engagement per Pin than those without the rich product information.

RICH PINS

MOREENGAGEMENT

DRIVE20%

Blue bag

Price - $$$

Attributes Driving Visibility In Social Commerce

WOMEN’S FASHION HOME & GARDEN

No. 1No. 1 Product typee.g. Area Rug

No. 1

No. 1No. 2 Sizee.g. Small

No. 2

No. 1No. 3 Colore.g. Yellow

No. 3

Clothing typee.g. Dress

Colore.g. Black

Materiale.g. Lace

3 Majkowska, A " 9 ways to drive traffic with Pinterest search". Pinterest

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SECOND REPORT: NOV 2014

LEADING RETAILERS IN SOCIAL COMMERCEUsing proprietary semantic technology, DataPop and Kenshoo identified topics most relevant to consumers today. By analyzing publicly available social posts related to those topics, we were able to identify which retailers and retailers’ products are most discoverable on social sites. These retailers are leading in social commerce by promoting product content along with branding efforts on social sites. The majority of these retailers are also taking advantage of the features offered by the social publishers, adding Pinterest, Polyvore, and Wanelo buttons to each product on their sites, making it easy for consumers to promote products themselves.

Retailers With High Social Commerce DISCOVERABILITY SCORES (Source: Publicly available information, Pinterest & Polyvore)

Retailers With High Social Commerce ENGAGEMENT SCORES(Source: Publicly available information, Pinterest & Polyvore)

© DataPop & Kenshoo Social Commerce Index, 2nd Report

Note: Retail brand and product logos may be trademarks of their respective owners

© DataPop & Kenshoo Social Commerce Index, 2nd Report

WOMEN’S FASHION HOME & GARDEN ELECTRONICS WOMEN’S FASHION HOME & GARDEN ELECTRONICS

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SECOND REPORT: NOV 2014

THE SOCIAL COMMERCE OPPORTUNITYWhile social commerce adoption is on the rise, many retailers are just beginning to explore the expansive opportunities available for marketing products on these platforms. Here are three key recommendations for getting the most out of social commerce this holiday seasons.

RECOMMENDATION #1: ALIGN YOUR SOCIAL COMMERCE CONTENT WITH CONSUMER TRENDS As retailers choose products to promote on social sites, it is critical that the product description matches consumer intent. Using words that consumers use to describe a retailer’s offering is a way to ensure increased visibility within social site algorithms for search results and feed curation, and to appeal to consumers directly.

RECOMMENDATION #3: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ADVANCED TOOLS THAT SOCIAL SITES PROVIDEWhile product posts with rich product information correspond to higher engagement, our analysis found that 60% of product Pins are not opted into Rich Pins. Taking advantage of this feature could be a quick way to boost engagement and sales volumes driven from Pinterest. Retailers should also add the Pinterest, Polyvore, and Wanelo buttons to the product pages on their websites, encouraging consumers to post and spread the word about products that catch their attention.

OF TOP PLA

SOCIALCOMMERCE

7.2%

ARE POSTED ONPRODUCTS

21Like Visit Site ShareSend32

Found on companyname.com

$Price

RICH PIN

Enhanced product title

WebsiteDescription#CompanyName

60%

40%

SIMPLE PIN21Like Visit Site ShareSend32

WebsiteDescription#CompanyName

60%

RICH PINSNOT OPTED

OF PRODUCT

INTO

PINS ARE

RECOMMENDATION #2: POST MORE PRODUCTS TO SOCIAL SITESDespite the success of product-based content on social commerce sites, the July 2014 DataPop & Kenshoo Social Commerce Index found that retailers are only posting 7.2% of their top selling products to social sites. To be more discoverable, retailers should continue to post products to social sites. Referencing top sellers from more established marketing programs, such as search product listing ads (PLA), can be used as a barometer for which products to actively post.

www.DataPop.com www.Kenshoo.com

SECOND REPORT: NOV 2014

CONCLUSIONThe adoption of social commerce efforts by retailers is on the rise, but significant opportunity remains. One of the greatest challenges that retailers face is identifying which team should manage the commerce aspect of social, the social team or the direct response team? Social commerce is not purely transactional, and therefore provides opportunities for both teams to develop a strategy. The first step is setting up a process to bridge the two teams, ultimately breaking down organizational silos and modeling the consumer journey of both discovery and shopping.

As the social commerce space becomes more established, more social shopping sites will enter the space, additional advertising and organic features will be rolled out, and analytics will increase in sophistication. Pinterest has already launched an advertising product, Promoted Pins, and will continue to roll it out more broadly in 2015. In the meantime, Polyvore, Wanelo and Pinterest are all working on enhancing their analytics suites. Retailers who get a head start in launching social commerce programs will not only reap the benefits of the existing features this holiday season, but will also be more prepared for the exciting opportunities to come in 2015.

DISCOVERING SHOPPING

DID SOMEONE SAY WEDDING?These days, when planning a wedding, Pinterest quickly comes to mind for everything from inspiration to product discovery. As the planners Pin away to plan their perfect day, the top ten retailers to appear for wedding topics are...

Source: Pinterest publicly available information

© DataPop & Kenshoo Social Commerce Index, 2nd Report

ONE LAST 'PIN' SIGHT

ABOUT DATAPOPDataPop (www.datapop.com) is the leading product advertising company, enabling marketers to execute fine-tuned merchandising strategies across digital channels. Its flagship OmniAds™ offering allows retailers and brands to enhance their legacy product catalogs through the patented, multi-dimensional Product Knowledge Graph™ and seamlessly distribute to leading publishers. DataPop works with a number of exceptional brands and partners including BCBG, Ace Hardware, Deckers Outdoor, Sport Chalet, 1-800 Contacts, Kenshoo, Resolution Media, and 360i. Follow us on Twitter @DataPop..

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ABOUT KENSHOOKenshoo is the global leader in predictive marketing software. Brands, agencies and developers use Kenshoo Search, Kenshoo Social, Adquant by Kenshoo, Kenshoo Local, Kenshoo SmartPath, Kenshoo Halogen, and Kenshoo Anywhere to direct more than $200 billion in annualized client sales revenue through the platform. Kenshoo is the only Facebook strategic Preferred Marketing Developer with native API solutions for ads across Facebook, FBX, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Yahoo Japan, Bing, Baidu and CityGrid. Kenshoo powers digital marketing campaigns in more than 190 countries for nearly half of the Fortune 50 and all 10 top global ad agency networks. Kenshoo clients include CareerBuilder, Expedia, Facebook, KAYAK, Havas Media, IREP, John Lewis, Resolution Media, Sears, Starcom MediaVest Group, Tesco, Travelocity, Walgreens, and Zappos. Kenshoo has 24 international locations and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Arts Alliance, Tenaya Capital, and Bain Capital Ventures. Please visit www.kenshoo.com for more information.

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