From Search To Sale. How AI Drives Consumer Discovery And Retail Spend — Steve Warrington | Why Search Is Underrated By Retailers, How The Customer Journey

From Search To Sale. How AI Drives Consumer Discovery And Retail Spend — Steve Warrington | Why Search Is Underrated By Retailers, How The Customer Journey Has Changed, How To Use Product Data To Boost Search, How AI Improves More Speaker 1: This episode is sponsored by Bravo. Time to take your marketing to the next level. Brevo is the all-in-one marketing platform that helps you connect with customers through email, SMS, WhatsApp, and automation – all from one easy-to-use platform. Keep your customer data organized, personalize every message, and drive real engagement effortlessly. Try Brevo for free or use eCB to save 50% on starter and business plans for the first three months of an annual subscription. Head to brevo.com slash eCB today. You will find a link also in the show notes. Speaker 3: Hey there, this is Claus Lauter and you're listening to the eCommerce Coffee Break Podcast, the show that helps you become a smarter online seller. Speaker 1: In today's episode, we're going to talk about how customers go from search to sale and how AI drives consumer discovery and retail spend. Speaker 3: Joining me on the show is Steve Warrington, SVP of Client and Industry Engagement at UP.ai. Speaker 1: So let's dive right into it. Speaker 3: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Ecommerce Coffee Break Podcast. In today's episode, we're going to talk about how customers go from search to sale and how AI drives customer discovery and retail spend. Good enough, I have a guest with me who has a lot of background and also data on this topic. This is Steve Warrington. He's the SVP of Client and Industry Engagement at Up.ai. He's a seasoned eCommerce and retail media expert with 13 years leading performance marketing for leading retailers like Wickets, Hackett, Dreams, B&O, and also spent six years at Jellyfish advertising major brands on eCommerce advertising as global VP of eCommerce and retail. So he has a vast background when it comes to the topic and I would like him to welcome to the show. Hi, how are you today? Speaker 2: I'm pretty good at class. Yourself? Speaker 3: No complaints my side. So Steve, I understand that Up.ai has commissioned a research with retail economics and with 2,000 customers and 100 major UK retailers. Tell me a little bit about it. What was the background? Speaker 2: The background was really to try to We wanted to resurface, I suppose, a traditional digital marketing channel and then try to reinvigorate the view on it and the perspective on it. So, as a growing business, we wanted – that operates in this space – we really wanted to bring a lot of the insights about the value of that channel, use it obviously as a vehicle we wish to be able to get our message out. But I think it's a tried and trusted And today, we're going to talk about a channel that really needed to be shown a lot of love when there's some other new marketing channels that are out there that could overshadow, let's say, the value of what we see search delivering for retailers and actually what the research shows in terms of its value. Speaker 3: Now, the research highlights that search engines are the most influential discovery channel. I think they always were, and I think that's going forward. Yet, many retailers still under-invest in them. What do you think? Why is search so undervalued? Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think that goes back to sort of why we're doing the research, right? So I've kind of grown up in retail with Google's rise. So it's evolution, the importance of consumers. I've experienced that over the past 20 years. And for what my opinion's worth, retailers underestimate search. It's viewed as transactional rather than strategic. Search, to my mind, isn't just about direct response. I consider search as kind of that engine that powers every stage of the customer journey, whereas actually I think retailers sort of look at it as in terms of it's going to deliver me sales immediately. But because discovery is a validation, you've got consumers instinctively turn to search to find, compare and verify products, which is the space we operate. And yet retailers are sort of anchored in that legacy marketing model and that mindset. And they prioritise channels that they can own like their websites or more visible, more tangible platforms like the social media models, let's say. Not that I'm saying there isn't value in those sorts of platforms, but I feel from that point of view, that's why they are undervaluing it. I feel that the reality is if you're not winning in search, you're not really maximizing your presence in that consideration set. And I think brands that invest in search, not just as a performance channel, but as an intent-driven wider ecosystem, they see far greater returns. So where demand happens, it isn't also where demand is shaped. And I think retailers need to deal with and they need to grasp that search really means what it really means for them, rather than just looking at it in terms of that coin-operated transactional undervaluing that the research maybe is sort of echoing. Speaker 3: That makes perfect sense. And also, I think the report mentions a fragmented attention economy. Everyone knows that the attention span is very, very short. And you mentioned people are getting bombarded with messages from all sides of it. And I think search also happens on different levels. Tell me how this impacts the consumers in their behavior, in their user experience when they get different levels of search and how they discover products. Speaker 2: I think the signs are there that consumers today are sort of in this perpetual state of partial consideration, if you can call it that sort of way, meaning that they don't move through a linear funnel anymore. In fact, I'm not sure they ever really did. Today, they bounce between channels. They're encountering products on social, they're researching on search, they're checking reviews on a marketplace, and maybe they're even seeing a display advert before converting. Let's be honest. Journeys are a lot more complicated than that. This means that being present in search isn't enough. You need to dynamically be relevant at every moment of that search intent. Check out the messy middle as a piece of the work, if you're not familiar. It's a good illustration of exactly what that looks like, the clues in the title. It is messy. Today, what AI is enabling is retailers to be able to reinterpret or interpret that real-time demand signals, ensure that products are positioned at the exact moment when consumers are most likely to interact or act. So the brands that win in that fragmented landscape, as you say, are those that understand that search isn't a static touchpoint and it's fluid, it's evolving the conversation with consumers. And I suppose the best evidence of that is how Google have developed their campaign types, you know, to be more funnel-based, more multi-surface, such as the campaign type PMAX. It's AI-driven. It's designed to meet It's designed to meet consumers as part of that whole fragmented journey across Google's social channels, its search, whilst browsing interesting content and in that discovery section. We can see that the biggest app platforms have moved away or moved into this fragmented attention dynamic, and that's why they've built the search tech to marry with the change in that consumer behavior. Speaker 3: Tell me a little bit about talking about AI, talking about Google. I think in the report, it was mentioned that there's also a lot of numbers, a lot of figures on age groups and who's influenced most by search. Can you talk a little bit about that? Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the research is really looking at that retailers have traditionally focused their digital marketing efforts on maybe younger demographics. They're recognizing their high engagement with online channels because of the fact that they've grown up with digital. However, while these audiences still remain critical, certainly further down the line, Retailers risk, I feel, overlooking the old fuddy-duddies like me. They're a valuable segment, but they spend more and they're influenced by search more because they've sort of grown up with it. So this group is unique in what they engage with. They've got a deep intent in their search. They're not just discovering products, but they're actively researching, comparing, and validating their choices before a purchase. Generally, they tend to have higher disposable incomes, which I did, but combined with more complex purchasing needs like home improvements, let's say, or family expenses, maybe premium products means that their buying decisions are often more considered and higher value. And that said, search is not just a tool, but it's age group. It's crucial influence across all demographics. So younger demographics or younger consumers rely on search as an extension of their digital first habits. Is my view and they're using it to navigate trends or verify information and discover new brands. So, for me, it's about recognizing and optimizing the full spectrum research behavior, you know, retailers can ensure that. They are not only capturing short-term demand, but also fostering long-term customer relationships across those different demographics that's driving revenue at every stage of the customer lifecycle across that broad set of demographics that are using digital and are ready to buy and have the ability to buy. Speaker 3: I think we're pretty much the same age group, so I can relate to that. Speaker 2: You look slightly better than me, so I'm not too sure about that. Speaker 3: So generally speaking, I use search first, as I did the last 25 years. But I see younger people, and that's, I think, what you mean. I have a completely different behavior. They're on TikTok. They're using different apps to search, where I would never think of that that's a way to discover things and to do a search. I'm pretty much stuck to search engines still. Now, you spoke about Google, you spoke about PMAX campaigns. How does AI help me as a retailer to get the consumer from wherever he's discovering me to buy from me? Speaker 2: That sort of is what I was trying to convey with the fact that if you treat AI-driven campaigns in the right way, such as PMAX, PMAX is built in that way to be able to get customers in the discovery phase or in the intent phase and the transactional phase. I think there's a lot of practices that are legacy views of how you treat SERPs in this example, and PMAX is now Google is a different type of search campaign because it's using different types of inventory. I think, how do you get the most out of that? How do you make sure you are meeting that fragmented attention that sits across those? I think it's, in our minds, certainly as a business, is making sure that you've got Google's best practices set up, but it's also around getting AI to manage AI. And, you know, vested interest here, that's what Up is doing. I think there's a lot of things All principles of how retailers may operate because of the tools that have been given, which have always been valuable, can also derail in where we sit today. So, you know, you change a ROAS target so significantly that you go into a relearning phase and you miss the opportunity in market. Those types of things mean that from our point of view, when you've got large inventory set, You've got huge volatility. You've got customers in all of these different stages of their consideration period. How do you manage that from a human point of view? You can't if you're going to maximise that opportunity. In answer to your question, I think you've got to have AI, managing AI. Speaker 1: And now a quick break to thank the sponsors of today's episode. Are you looking to take your business marketing to the next level? Meet Brevo, the all-in-one marketing and CRM platform designed to help you connect with customers, drive engagement and grow your business. With Brevo you can manage all your customer interactions in one place, nurture leads through their built-in CRM, reach them through email and SMS, and boost retention with powerful automations. Effortlessly create personalized multi-channel campaigns that ensure every single customer gets the right message at the right time. And that's not all. Brevo offers AI-driven personalization, advanced analytics, seamless integrations, and more, giving you everything you need to market smarter, not harder. Get started for free or use code ECB to save 50% on starter and business plans for the first three months of an annual subscription. Head over to brevo.com slash ECB and take your marketing further with Brevo. You will find the link. Speaker 3: No, I agree. There's a lot of data points in there, and automation, I think, is the main important thing there. Otherwise, you're just lost in the data. I think that's a problem a lot of marketers have. The data is there. Everyone is providing you with data. But really, to work with the data, you need AI. So how can AI reshape search performance in bidding? How does that work? Speaker 2: Yeah, I think this is quite an important piece to get your head around, that AI in search isn't just about adjusting bids from my point of view, and you know you've got a background in this. It's about redesigning how search operates. So in performance-driven campaigns, we were just talking about PMAX, AI is continuously evaluating who's in market, who's most likely to convert. What products should be surfaced in real time based on intent? How do you optimize creative assets dynamically for maximum engagement? But from my point of view, seeing where we are now, hence why I've joined up is, you know, the true transformation happens when AI moves beyond I work in campaign automation. When retailers start to integrate real-time product intelligence, it's what we do. Working with it, I see firsthand that when you start to feed in live eCommerce data and store data, stock data, we take in pricing signals and competitive insights. We feed that back into PMAT. And brands can ensure that their search performance isn't just efficient, it's adaptive to both the internal business conditions, but also the external market dynamics. And the brands dominating search today aren't just tweaking the bits, it's going beyond the bits. They're fueling AI with the right data. And allowing it to orchestrate the entire search to sale journey. So with scale and speed that, as I was saying, no human can really match that. Speaker 3: So how can you unlock the hidden power of product data? Speaker 2: You know, search isn't just about keywords anymore. I think it's about matching intent with the right product at the right moment. We've spoken about that fragmented ecosystem. You know, AI platforms like ours, they're ensuring AI is managing the AI and that search engines dynamically prioritize the highest opportunity products continuously based on, in this instance, Pmax in the market and profitability and competitor activity, et cetera. And that's why AI is no longer optional in search from our point of view. Manual strategies can't keep up with the sheer volume of data needed to be able to make those optimal decisions in real time. It's maths that's going to win out in that scenario. And also, the algorithms can predict what's right to push and what's right to advertise for the retailer, and then you've got to go with it. Otherwise, retailers are massively behind the leading practices, such as the retailers that work with us. So it's solving some of the fundamentals of retail marketing, having products placed effectively And efficiently in front of customers when they're searching and they're effectively holding up their hand and saying, I want to buy your products that you have within your range. It's offering you that symmetry of your range with market demand. Speaker 3: Now, what's one key insight from the research that retailers should act on to get started? What's the first step? Speaker 2: I genuinely believe that search isn't just another channel. We opened out by talking about what my view on that is, and I think it's I think it's the backbone of digital commerce and has grown to hold this position over two decades, I think, if Google's been around that long. It's probably a bit more than that. But it's not declining in value, right? It's growing in its importance. And this needs to be appreciated. And you can see that in the research that it's highlighting that. The brands that invest in AI-powered search strategies today, they're going to be the ones that dominate the next era of retail. Speaker 3: No, that makes sense. Now, you said you're helping a lot of retailers with AI, with their campaigns. Who's your perfect customer? Speaker 2: Our perfect customer? Ones with big budgets. But I say that in a flippant way, but it's ones with big budgets because it drives more data. They've got a lot of budget to wield in the market and the budgets dictate the data. But it's also the product inventory set. Going back to that human point of managing large inventory sets, how can you possibly have enough people to be able to manage thousands of products? Some of our customers have millions of products. So if you think about For us, we take in hundreds of data points around an individual product. How could one individual human do that at one product level constantly every 15 minutes given market demand? So our customers, larger enterprise retailers, their problem is how do they maximize market opportunity? How do they get their retail range symmetry with the market? They've got to have decent retail practices. They've got to be open to the fact that We're, for want of a better description, I'm not a big fan of this phrase, but we're a bleeding-edge solution. And the industry is an inflection point. You've got AI-driven campaigns, managing media, and the need for rules and controls. That's sort of going away because PMAX is doing a lot of that for you. So the mindset always also has to be there. So big budgets, big inventory set, the right mindset and some hygiene around retail, you know, pricing being good and strong. We did have some customers that are on a website that loaded too slow, and that's going to throttle your ad performance back. We know that. And so I think there's a certain level of digital maturity as well that needs to be with the right customers as we move forward. Speaker 3: You already told me sort of what the homework of the merchant has to do before it comes to you. What's the onboarding process? How long does it take to get up and running? Speaker 2: So, as I said, I come from the customer side and there's a lot of tech providers that will say, yeah, it's really easy to integrate and it will go like that. Genuinely, the onboarding with Up is if you're ready to go, we hook into your Google Ads, we hook into your Google Analytics and your Merchant Center. And we're ready to go. So generally, you can be live if all things line up within a week, if not sooner. Speaker 3: Okay. Are there any kind of specific industries, verticals, niches that you work more with than with others? Speaker 2: We're retail specific. As I was talking about, you've got retailers with large inventory sets. It doesn't have to just be eCommerce providers. We've got omni-channel retailers that have hundreds of stores and we feed that data in as well. Ecommerce, it's physical retailers as well. And as I say, those criteria of half-decent budgets in PMAX being spent in the retail sector, that's our bread and butter. That's what we go after. Speaker 3: Before our coffee break comes to an end today, is there anything that you want to leave our listeners with that we haven't covered yet? Speaker 2: I think the only thing I'd say is have a look at the research. It's well worth looking at that and visiting up.ai, our website, and downloading that material. I think it does a good job of resurfacing the importance of search. So I encourage people to go and have a look at that. Speaker 3: Yeah, I will put the links in the show notes. I personally have looked into the research and I found it very interesting. There's a lot of interesting findings that I didn't know anything about it. And I agree, search was always there. Search, I think, will be always there. That's just how humans do their research. And it's quite important if you're selling online and you want to use AI, which I think is necessary. Steve, thanks so much for your time today. I will put the links, as I said, in the show notes and I hope a lot of people click through. Thanks so much. Speaker 2: Great to talk to you, Claus. Speaker 1: Before you leave, don't forget to visit the sponsor of today's episode. Time to take your marketing to the next level. Brevo is the all-in-one marketing platform that helps you connect with customers through email, SMS, WhatsApp, and automation – all from one easy-to-use platform. Keep your customer data organized, personalize every message, and drive real engagement effortlessly. Try Brevo for free or use eCB to save 50% on starter and business plans for the first three months of an annual subscription. Head to brevo.com slash eCB today. You will find the link also in the show notes. Speaker 3: Hey, Claus here. Thank you for joining me on another episode of the Ecommerce Coffee Break podcast. Before you go, I'd like to ask two things from you. Speaker 1: First, please help me with the algorithm so I can bring more impactful guests on the show. It will also make it easier for others to discover the podcast. Speaker 3: Simply like, comment, and subscribe in the app you're using to listen to the podcast and even better if you could leave a rating. And finally, sign up for our free newsletter and become a smarter online seller in just 5 minutes. We create content from more than 50 sources, saving you hours of research and helping you to stay on top of your eCommerce game with the latest news, insights, and trends twice a week in your inbox, 100% free. Join now at newsletter.ecommercecoffeebreak.com. That's newsletter.ecommercecoffeebreak.com. Thanks again and I'll catch you in the next episode. Have a good one.