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Digital Advertising Ecosystem

Need For Frequency Capping and Transparency in The Digital Advertising Ecosystem

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Reach and Frequency are the two key metrics on which the success of a brand campaign hinges. It’s like instead of conveying your message to 50 people 2 times, you are just sharing the same message 5 times to just 25 people. That results in more impressions but less reach. Therefore, ensuring frequency caps are enforced becomes paramount. So, are your ads getting served to the same audience too many times? Did you know a significant number of impressions are being served on a small number of devices? This challenge prevails across the OTT environments and other mobile app-based placements. This is simply due to a lack of cookie-based measurements on these (cookies don’t work on apps). Let’s demystify the intricacies surrounding metrics like Reach and Frequency and unveil how monitoring frequency capping violations can not only enhance campaign performance but also instill trust in the audience. The Deceptive World of Frequency Measurement Traditionally, marketers have relied on Ad Servers for accurate frequency measurement. Yet, the intricacies within the digital space world present a different narrative. Cookies, which have long been the stalwart of web tracking, lose their efficacy, necessitating a shift to more elusive identifiers like Device ID (Google Advertising ID or IDFA) which can be triggered by the publisher platforms (apps and OTTs). Here is an example of a recent campaign on a LEADING OTT player for a leading meat and seafood brand. As you can see 76.70% of the impressions were violating FCAP thresholds, which means that roughly half of the consumers saw the campaign much more than the required frequency. Another interesting angle is that as the campaign becomes longer, the FCAP violation keeps increasing. Within 11 days it was 76.62% but in the second part of the campaign, it increased to 83.82% in just 3 days [Ref. Fig:1.1]. This means that if you have a longer-running campaign, your control on FCAPs becomes lower and the campaign ends up reaching the same set of audiences. Fig 1.1: F-breach detected for Advertiser #1 Advertiser #1, utilizing a DSP, believed in the presumed capabilities of the publisher. When this is broken down with Device ID-wise numbers, you can see that some consumers saw the ad 15,145 times. Compared to the client threshold of 3, this is a MASSIVE violation of the cap. Imagine the consumer who saw the same ad 15,145 times! The person might remember the brand, but maybe not in a very friendly manner. Fig. 1.2: Top Device ID Frequency Observation What did the DSP’s FCAP report show? It masked this reality, showing an average of 3, leading to wasted ad spend and irritated consumers. Why? Since they didn’t consider Device ID as the parameter (even though it was passed) but used IP. User Agent as a way to measure FCAP. Also, they reported on AVERAGE FCAP which is misleading and doesn’t show the spread of the wastage. The Problem Seen by All Fig. 1.3: Findings by Fou Analytics The problem of frequency violations prevails and can be attested as a genuine issue in the digital ecosystem. According to an analysis done by FouAnalytics, there have been grave scenarios where invalid traffic was seen loading ads and taking active measures to defeat frequency capping. Bots are detected to be rotating device IDs and cookies to trick the ad servers into serving more ads to the bot. And the number of times bots see an ad is surprisingly shocking. As per the findings, there have been instances where as many as 342 times an ad is seen by a bad bot. [Ref to Fig:1.3] Thereby, Frequency Capping intelligence emerges as a critical solution. It serves as a safeguard against overexposure, preventing users from being bombarded with the same ads repeatedly. The efficacy of this practice, however, relies on advertisers actively engaging with publishers and fostering a transparent ecosystem for advertising on Mobile app platforms. Solution to Frequency Capping in Mobile App Platforms One effective strategy involves tracking Google Advertising ID (GAID) and device ID to validate genuine users and identify frequency capping violations. We at mFilterIt recommend playing at Australian casinos with a minimum deposit of $10. You can find a list of such casinos on the page https://casinoau10.com/10-dollars-minimum-deposit/. Inexpensive casinos with many bonuses are waiting for you. At mFilterIt, we set a VAST tag-based campaign where in real time the VAST requests which were violating the threshold were blocked and the wastage controlled. Here in another case of a leading consumer goods brand, the publisher tried to push up to 10% of requests which violated the FCAPs, but due to VAST request blocking in real-time, the campaign was protected and impressions were prevented on repeat users, money was saved and the campaign performance improved. Table 01: A multination consumer goods company ads on a social networking/short video platform The mFilterIt ad fraud solution also identifies the trends in VAST distribution trends and request blocking trends along with impressions distribution by location and impression and event trends. Way Forward As the digital advertising landscape continues to evolve, the need for frequency capping and transparency becomes increasingly apparent. Navigate the complexities of the app-based ecosystem and ensure that campaigns are not only impactful but also delivered with integrity and transparency across the digital ecosystem.

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Social Media Phishing Attacks

What Are the Types of Social Media Phishing Attacks

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Phishing is perhaps the oldest type of online fraud tactic used by scammers. Originally, phishing scams were conducted using email. However, as users on the web became more aware and alert, the effectiveness of email phishing has deteriorated considerably. Unfortunately, this has not been enough to discourage fraudsters and scammers. Modern fraudsters have become creative and are using a variety of phishing scams to dupe unsuspecting users and brands. That’s right, phishing scams these days don’t just affect the victims. They can also hurt a brand’s reputation. In this article, we will understand how a phishing scam can affect the trust your brand has built with its audience. We will also discuss the different tactics employed by fraudsters to deliver phishing attacks. Finally, this article will also guide you about protecting your brand against social media phishing. Let’s jump right in:  What Is Social Media Phishing? Before we learn about the different techniques of social media phishing, let’s understand the basic premise of this type of scam. The main purpose of phishing is to obtain the personal information of the users. This information is then used by scammers to gain access to their financial accounts and steal their money. On social media, it has become easier than ever for scammers to conduct this type of scam. Scammers may post a lucrative click-bait link on a platform, something like, “Here’s how this 20-year-old made $1 million in a week.” When a user clicks on this link, they may be redirected to spoofed websites that steal the personal information of the users. Since they are accessing the link through their social media account, a lot of personal identification information becomes available to the scammers. Equipped with information like name, age, date of birth, place of birth, names of parents and spouses, and more, scammers can steal from the user. In many cases, scammers may even use someone’s personal information in other ways to gain financial benefit. How Does Social Media Phishing Impact Brands? Social media phishing doesn’t just impact users. Brands may feel the most considerable long-term effects of social media phishing attacks. This is because many social media phishing techniques are executed by scammers impersonating a brand or the brand’s representative. If a user interacts with someone claiming to represent a brand they love and trust, they are likely to trust the stranger contacting them. Then, if this person turns out to be a scammer, the user will associate the bad experience with the brand. While the brand itself is not at fault, a distressed user may not be able to understand the same. As a result, they may completely stop trusting the brand. In extreme cases, distressed victims may even start bad-mouthing the brand on social media platforms and in front of their friends. This can cause further damage to the brand reputation of the company, leading to real monetary loss in a variety of ways. The lack of trust may directly impact the business coming from users who have fallen victim to a social media phishing scam. Moreover, if the lack of trust is spread among the larger user base, a brand may have to spend an unusually large amount on its advertising and customer experiences just to gain back the trust it has lost. Even then, there may be many users who may never place their trust in the brand again, especially those who have been directly impacted by the phishing scam. Let’s understand the different social media phishing scams that may even impact your brand.  Most Common Types of Social Media Phishing Attacks Fake Customer Support Social media has emerged as a popular place to avail customer support. It is quicker and more convenient than calling a company’s helpline number. Not to forget, the generations that are now entering the consumer market also prefer communicating through texts over phone calls. Even from a brand’s perspective, providing support on social media is a great idea. It is cost-effective and allows the brand to be prompt with its response. This, in turn, enables the brand to create more delightful customer experiences. Such experiences have a compounding effect on social media platforms where customer-brand interactions are visible publicly. Unfortunately, it is also very easy for scammers to pose as support representatives of a brand and scam its customers. The culture of support on social media offers a glaring opportunity for committing brand infringement attacks. All they need is a fake profile equipped with the brand’s logo and a description. Using these, a scammer impersonates a legitimate brand representative and directs support-seeking customers to fake login pages that collect their personal information. This information is then used to gain access to the customer’s social media and bank accounts. The scammers then use the now-hacked social media account to scam the friends and family of their original victim. In some cases, scammers ask for an upfront payment from customers seeking support. However, these customers simply end up falling victim to the scam and never getting the support they require. It isn’t difficult to imagine how such interactions reflect badly on a brand’s image and the trust it enjoys with its audience. Fake Business Profiles, Pages Just like it is easy to create a fake profile pretending to be a brand’s representative, it is also alarmingly easy to create fake company pages on social media platforms. These pages are then used by scammers to misrepresent the brand and scam unsuspecting users by asking for their personal information. In some cases, fake business profiles may post links to fake login pages that resemble the login page of the social media platform where it is posted. An innocent user may end up clicking on such a link and thinking that they may have been logged out because of a technical issue, may enter their login details into the fake login page. With this, the scammers can gain access to the user’s profile and start impersonating them to scam their friends. Email Phishing Email phishing, as the name suggests,

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Southeast Asia eCommerce

Southeast Asia eCommerce: Beginning of A New Chapter

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The e-commerce landscape is expanding with new global markets rising to the occasion with massive potential. Southeast Asia region is turning out to be the next e-commerce hub. The changing consumer behavior, rapid internet penetration rate, and young demographics are leading to the rise of the e Southeast Asian region. Let’s dive deeper to understands the prospects of the region and how new trends are shaping its future. Southeast Asia – New Hub of eCommerce business opportunities Every country in the Southeast Asian region has its own cultural nuances that shape the shopping trends. The global exposure and ease of doing business has brought global brands to SEA markets and also propelled the local homegrown digital brands. But the trends and shopping are quite different as compared to matured eCommerce marketplaces like US and China. The Changing consumer habits and expanding market has created new opportunities for brands entering the SEA market. Now the challenge is can they cater to new needs and meet customer exception with enhancing shopping experience. The SEA market has evolved post-pandemic with rapid rate – In between 2016 to 2021, the eCommerce sales grew 5 times, which is approximately 40% while retail share surged upto 20% from previous 5%. As compared to countries like China where population is on decline, Southeast Asia’s has expanding range of working population and estimated to be 23 million by 2030 (Source: Brain & co. Report). The rise in household income is also expected to touch new-high of 51 million (higher & upper middle class) by 2030. Rise in Consumption The combination of higher household income and expanding working class has propelled consumption. By 2030, the market is expected to add approximately 140 million plus new consumers. And that will be almost 16% of estimated world consumers. The world economic forum report on ASEAN member countries suggests many of these first-time shoppers make their first purchase online with first luxury product. This is quite contrast to the Indian-subcontinent where first time buyers start with small ticket items or fashion products. By 2027, The region is supposed to hit 402 million digital consumers according to the forecast by Brain & Co. Report with Indonesia leading growth, followed by the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. Southeast Asia may well be poised to become the ‘next China’ in terms of e-commerce growth potential given the current trajectory of e-commerce as a percentage of total sales and overall e-commerce sales surging. Shift in Consumer behaviour Gen Z & millennial are strengthening Southeast Asia’s eCommerce Landscape. According to Bain & co. Southeast Asia study report, across six countries, 60 percent of digital consumers do not know what they want to purchase when shopping online. The impulse shopping and product discovery while browsing, specially under non-essential category like fashion clothing and consumers electronics are the top categories with immense potential. In other words, they largely discover new products while they are browsing, particularly for non-essential categories like clothing and consumer electronics. Trends Guiding the SEA market Brands targeting nations like Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, in the region adapting to each country’s technological progress and consumer habits is the recipe for digital commerce success. The rise of mobile commerce The majority of Southeast Asian consumers now shop online using their mobile devices. This trend is being driven by the growing availability of smartphones and affordable data plans. Brands need to ensure that their websites and apps are optimized for mobile devices to reach this growing market. The growth of social commerce Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are becoming increasingly important for e-commerce in Southeast Asia. Brands can use social media to reach a wider audience, promote their products, and drive sales. The increasing popularity of online marketplaces Online marketplaces like Shopee, Lazada, and Tokopedia are becoming the go-to destinations for online shopping in Southeast Asia. Brands can benefit from selling their products on these marketplaces by tapping into their large customer base and getting access to their logistics and payment solutions. The focus on convenience Southeast Asian consumers are increasingly looking for convenience when shopping online. This means that brands need to offer fast and reliable delivery, as well as easy and secure payment methods. The importance of personalization Southeast Asian consumers are looking for brands that can provide them with a personalized shopping experience. This means that brands need to collect data about their customers and use it to tailor their offerings. Final Thoughts The young and feisty Southeast Asian market has touched new highs with a massive influx of brands eyeing the market. Every country in the region has a different level of penetration of eCommerce but the potential of the region is immense. The customer behavior has a lot in common with China and Korea as K-pop idols set fashion trends and Tik-Tok Shops are making waves in omni-channel eCommerce. However, the core issues in the competitive landscape are optimizing product listing and monitoring availability, keyword share, and tracking customer feedback. The mScanIt, ecommerce competitive intelligence helps brand navigate through the digital commerce ecosystem with a global dashboard to monitor product performance versus competition across categories, platforms, and countries. In this ever-evolving ecosystem brands need to be spot on identifying opportunities to stay ahead. Get in touch to learn more about brand safety in the digital ecosystem.

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Middle East eCommerce

Middle East eCommerce: The Expanding Market with Massive Purchase Potential

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The digital transformation of the region is nothing less than an Arabian knight tale. The expanding landscape and diverse eCommerce ecosystem are all set to lead the global eCommerce world. Countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain are the key markets that make up the core of the region.   But what does it take to be a hero in this expanding e-commerce landscape?   In simple terms – Know your competitor, stay on top of the market dynamics & trends, and tap the pulse of Middle Eastern shoppers.   As the story unfolds it requires a deeper understanding of the Middle East e-commerce landscape. So, let’s dive deeper to understand how business can drive brands in this digital ecosystem.   Middle East eCommerce – Explore, Identify and Don’t miss out on opportunities The Middle East region holds a special position in the global eCommerce ecosystem with rapid advancement in technology, the adoption rate of eCommerce, evolving and maturing consumer behavior, and internet penetration beyond tier-1 cities in the region leading market expansion and economic growth.   Digital Expansion Post-pandemic the global eCommerce market has experienced growth beyond traditional retail channels driven by an expanding number of digital shoppers. The global market is expected to touch USD 6.35 trillion by 2027*. The proliferation of smartphones, high-speed internet connectivity, and the convenience of online shopping are the key contributors to the global eCommerce upswing.   The region has risen above the challenges like the limited payment options with the adoption of swift payment options like direct carrier billing. The lack of trust in online retailers, and a preference for in-store shopping were also key challenges but the rise of online purchases and quality services by global brands has built brand trust across platforms in the Middle East digital ecosystem. Such improvement in infrastructure propels digital expansion.   According to the Mordor Intelligence report, the size of the MENA region’s ecommerce market will almost double by 2028 compared to 2023. The expected CAGR is 11.5%, and with the MENA countries’ combined GDP of US$3.9 trillion, the region shows potential for fast growth in the ecommerce market. Evolving Consumer Behavior   The Middle East has taken center stage in the global eCommerce market with massive room for expansion as several countries in the region and tier-2 cities of the most active countries are exploring the prospects of online shopping with higher access to technology and internet penetration. The support from the governments is helping the region overcome major challenges like lack of trust in online retailers, preference for in-store shopping, and limited payment options.   A notable shift in consumer has triggered post-pandemic as shoppers turned to e-commerce platforms for daily needs, electronics, and other essential goods. Convenience, product choices, and competitive marketplaces have opened new opportunities for shoppers. The market presents exciting opportunities for international brands venturing into the market along with opportunities to target expatriate populations with brands they are familiar with. The Middle Eastern young and tech-savvy population presents a vast consumer base for e-commerce expansion.  The young and tech-savvy shopping population with rising disposable income is making up a large consumer base and the market is expected to touch base with USD 50 billion by 2025. *  *Source: Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View – Summer 2023 Not just the Middle East but the entire MENA region is experiencing a massive surge in e-commerce across categories. The key drivers of this growth are rising internet penetration, rising consumer demand for value and convenience, and extensive reach of e-commerce and quick commerce intelligence platforms.  The region under the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and MENA countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and African countries has grown exponentially post-pandemic.   Platform Revenue Amazon.ae US$520.1m  Trendyol US$3,215.7m Ounass.ae US$15.3m  Noon US$251.7m  Amazon.sa US$126.1m  Souq.com US$82.4m  Basharacare.com US$6.6m Mumzworld US$67.5m  Fig 01: The top revenue-generating eCommerce platforms in the Middle East region |Source: Vitro Commerce (This will be illustrated as a chart)   Middle East eCommerce Trends Growth Across Categories The shopping patterns across eCommerce platforms are different across digital ecosystems same stands for the Middle East but the core difference is the purchase potential and inclination towards online shopping.   A Blend of local brands and global names Even the biggest name in the retail market sells their product with local packaging using local language and push variants that cater to the local Flavors and cultural preferences.   Adoption of Digital Payments Digital payments are one of the core challenges in the Middle East region. The rise of Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) for swift transactions along with mobile wallets is building a payment ecosystem that encourages online hopping with integration on various marketplaces.   Focus on enhancing customer experience The need for convenience is the utmost need of the shoppers. With the rise of value-first shoppers across digital ecosystems, brands focus on providing seamless customer journeys.   Rise of Quick Commerce The expansion of the digital ecosystem demands swift delivery. The same-day delivery need has led to the rise of Quick commerce intelligence platforms in the Middle East region.   eCommerce Future in Middle East The future of e-commerce heavily relies on well-connected, digitally savvy audiences. And the MENA region has it all! Retail penetration in the region is now around 11–12% and keeps growing. Over 80% of buyers use mobile devices, and 70% of them use social media to reach the seller.   eCommerce in the Middle East statistics and trends show that Internet penetration is close to 100%, and 80% of users already buy through the internet. This is a great target audience of potential buyers for new sellers. In general, 85% of all buyers are tech-savvy and accept paying digitally.   The population’s growing buying capabilities and the building of new e-commerce initiatives by governments suggest the MENA region has a promising and thriving e-commerce future ahead of it. This makes it perfect for those who are looking for a place to start their e-commerce business.   Final thoughts The opportunities in the MENA region are unmatched. The wide variation in product categories and high purchase

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Quick Commerce

Woes in Quick Commerce: How to Optimize Your Product listings

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The rising wave of quick commerce is leading spoiling customers of choices – now the 15 minutes delivery needs are expanding across segments. The quick commerce ecosystem works differently than eCommerce marketplaces where customers spend more time in product consideration & evaluation. Here promos, availability, product bundling & combos, enticing offers on banners what attract shoppers. Here we are going to explore what makes tracking quick commerce performance for brand so essential. The challenges and what they need to catch the pace of quick commerce platform. Hot spot for Last-Minute Needs Quick commerce platforms target the daily needs of shoppers and entice shoppers to turn small ticket purchases into large volume with impulse purchases. It bundles products or categorizes them as per the needs of shoppers like party needs, puja or festive needs, daily groceries, or anything that you need at the last minute. It starts with adding just one item that you need to your cart but ends up adding more items in related categories into the cart.  This turns the low-ticket purchases into a larger shopping bag. It’s more like your neighbourhood grocery store but with product categories and products variants.  Quick Commerce platforms sell at micro level with dark stores. The demand from one region varies from the other that makes availability, product categorizing and product bundling key or brands to monitor. The quick commerce sector in India currently has a market size of $700 million and is likely to grow 8 times to reach a $5.5 billion market value by 2025. The addressable market of this industry is projected to be around $60 billion. | Source: ET Retail The challenges brands face on Quick Commerce platforms   Optimizing Quick commerce Product Listings: The listing on Quick commerce needs to be tagged into to specific categories where shoppers look for with accurate category tag- listings. As quick commerce products do not have extensive product description – brands need to comply with platform-specific guidelines to show the various images of the packet with ingredient details on it. Mastering Pricing Analysis in Quick Commerce: Another core challenge for brands is setting the price and promotional offers This requires apt bundling of the products under the same category. For example, a detergent power paired with 2 soap bars or stain remover liquid. But the catch here is the resellers bundle their product without brands being aware of and damaging brand reputation and product worth. Efficiency of Q-com Banner: Brand must be aware of what shoppers are looking for and ensure that is promoted on the brands ad banner theme for example during Raksha Bandhan a top chocolate brand offering celebration offer and offering high promotional offers during the peak hours of the festive season. Brands must be aware of ad traffic but also the performance and compliance of the banner ad with notification on if it is running on slotted time, visibility of banner, theme and keywords on the banners. How Digital commerce intelligence on quick commerce platforms will lead the way Quick commerce platforms have taken the retail industry by storm, revolutionizing the way consumers shop for everyday goods. Brands are realizing the immense potential in this space and are actively looking to optimize every step of the customer journey. Brands need to optimize very step of customer journey across quick commerce platforms to edge ahead. Real-Time Stock Availability Alerts One of the crucial aspects of quick commerce is ensuring that products are available when customers want them. Real-time stock availability alerts can help brands keep track of inventory levels across various outlets. When an item goes out of stock, the system can instantly trigger alerts to replenish the inventory. This ensures that customers are not disappointed due to stockouts, enhancing their overall shopping experience. Enhance Share of Search with Title Keywords In the digital realm, visibility is key. Brands must optimize their product listings with relevant title keywords to improve their share of search. When customers search for products, having the right keywords in product titles can boost your products’ chances of being discovered. Digital commerce intelligence tools can help identify the most relevant and high-impact keywords for your products, increasing your visibility on quick commerce platforms. Optimize Banner Performance Banners play a significant role in attracting and engaging customers on quick commerce platforms. Brands should continuously optimize banner performance by focusing on images, themes, and keywords. Digital commerce intelligence tools can provide insights into which banners are performing well and which need improvement. By analysing customer interactions and click-through rates, brands can fine-tune their banners to drive more conversions. Track Pricing & Promo Trends Pricing and promotions are crucial factors that influence customer buying decisions. Brands must closely monitor pricing and discount trends in the quick commerce space. Digital commerce intelligence can help track competitor pricing strategies and identify opportunities to offer competitive prices or attractive promotions. Staying ahead of pricing trends can give brands a significant advantage in the market. Opportunities in Quick commerce What seems like a turbulent time for Indian Quick commerce platforms turned upside down with hefty investment into Zepto and it became the first unicorn of 2023. Zepto, a grocery delivery company, secured a massive $200 million in fresh funds and were valued at a whopping $1.4 billion. On the other hand, Q1 FY24 of Zomato-owned Blink It made 384 crore revenue over 2140 Crore Gross Order Value with reduced EBITDA for the quarter. The platforms are looking to be innovative and investing in dark stores with more focus on swift delivery and a larger assortment. This is the perfect time for brands to focus on Quick commerce and overcome the optimization hurdles with digital commerce intelligence. Final Thoughts Quick commerce is reshaping the way consumers shop, and brands need to adapt to this evolving landscape. The competition across quick commerce platforms is growing with more choices for the shoppers across categories. The competitive landscape requires swift monitoring of product performances versus competition and data-driven decision strategies. By keeping track of stock availability, enhancing share of search, optimizing banner performance, and

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Digital Commerce Intelligence

Cross-border Commerce: Optimize New Opportunities with Digital Commerce Intelligence

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The world of e-commerce is expanding the international borders are no longer a hindrance in reaching out to new sets of interested shoppers instead it is an opportunity to expand, explore, and excel in new markets. But every marketplace across the world has its own guidelines, local cultural nuances, and distinct shopper behavior. Brands need that intelligence across platforms, regions, and competition to expand in the digital ecosystem. Let’s explore how intelligence can help brands in their cross-border commerce venture and what impact it has on the digital commerce landscape. What is cross-border commerce? Cross-border e-commerce is when a brand sells or buys products across an international border or across multiple destinations through e-commerce platforms. It could be between B2B or B2C in different countries. Cross-border commerce opens doors to the global market and allows brands to access a wider customer base, making inroads into markets they may not have been able to access via traditional retail. Brands can increase their sales and revenue by targeting customers in different countries and regions, each with its own purchasing power and demand for specific products. Brands can reduce their dependence on a single market by selling in multiple countries. How does e-commerce intelligence help the Cross-Border Commerce venture? In the digital commerce ecosystem, understanding the market and open up to local cultural behavior help identify shoppers’ choices. Rather than applying the experience of one country or marketplace on the other. For instance, the customer behavior and market dynamics of Indian e-commerce is quite a contrast from the Middle East and Southeast Asia e-commerce ecosystem. Equipped with Digital Commerce Intelligence brands can keep track of emerging consumer trends, shopping patterns, and preferences in different countries. Adapting to the market requirements and customer needs. This creates the need for analyzing large volumes of data across geographies and platforms to understand international customer behavior, preferences, and market dynamics. This data can inform decision-making and marketing strategies. eCommerce competitive intelligence across platforms and geographies can ease up the burden of brands, that have a wider global distribution network or sell cross borders on eCommerce platforms. It gives brands a competitive edge and can enhance brand exposure and visibility. It also helps establish a brand’s presence and reputation in the global market. Cross-border commerce provides brands an opportunity to target niche markets where product offerings are in high demand. Like an Indian snack brand targeting expatriate shoppers in the Middle East. Cross-border e-commerce: What you should know? Brands must be aware of the competition, market, and local regulations to build a good market share and build on using market intelligence and insights. Here are some key elements of cross-border e-commerce that brands should explore. Understand Local Trends: Adapting to region-specific trends, product specifications, and packaging helps the brand build a loyal customer base. Data-driven insights on product feedback, customer sentiments, and product detail page content help construct market strategies that suit the specific culture, language, and preferences. Boost Your Digital Presence: Enhancing your presence by bidding on the keywords that can increase your share of search in the region for sponsored listings and ad banners on the eCommerce platform. Identify what your brand needs to boost its digital shelf with platform-level intelligence versus local and global competition across categories and geographies. Know the Regulations: Understand and comply with the local eCommerce business laws and regulations of the platform. Also, prepare your product display page content specific to the platform and geographies. Know Your Competition: Identify key players across platforms under various categories, sub-categories, and variants in the target market and understand their strengths and weaknesses. Continuously monitor your performance and identify areas where you may be falling short or missing opportunities for improvement versus competition. Understand Customer & Market Needs: An understanding of customer preferences can help tailor your products and services to target shoppers in the region. The product descriptions and marketing content should be localized to resonate with local consumers and address their specific needs. Risk Management: Assess and mitigate the risks associated with cross-border commerce, such as currency fluctuations, political instability, or supply chain disruptions. Implement measures to prevent and detect ad fraud, which can be a significant issue in digital advertising. Ensure your products meet local safety and quality standards while maintaining brand consistency. Safeguard your intellectual property rights and trademarks to prevent infringement by others. Businesses need to carefully plan and execute each of these aspects to effectively expand into new markets and capture global e-commerce opportunities. Final Thoughts: Leveraging digital Commerce Intelligence for Cross-Border Commerce Digital commerce intelligence is a linchpin for brand success in cross-border commerce, providing invaluable actionable insights that can help build strategies to outpace the competition. By analysing the competitive landscape in each target market, brands can uncover gaps and advantages. Utilizing digital intelligence for real-time competitor pricing enables dynamic pricing adjustments. Connect with us to learn more about the capabilities of our digital commerce intelligence solution mScanIt, which provides a global dashboard to monitor core KPIs like availability, keyword share, rating and reviews, pricing, and a lot more across countries, platforms, and competition. Optimizing the shopping experience with data-driven insights can be a game-changer for brands in cross-border e-commerce.

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Indian E-commerce

Indian E-commerce Market Trends 2024

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The world of e-commerce saw some rapid changes post-pandemic lockdown but as the people started adjusting to the new normal new trends started to emerge. The shopper’s behavior has evolved, with marketplaces enhancing the shopping experience with augmented reality and a flurry of mega-sale seasons. During the festive season in 2023, brands promoted their product with extensive sponsored activity and launched new products aggressively. This festive season was coupled with mega events for advertising the Cricket World Cup in India 2023. But what’s next in the eCommerce arena? Let’s move beyond 2023 and dive deep into what this will lead to and what to expect in 2024. eCommerce Trends for 2024 1. Rise of Value-First Shoppers The shopper’s behavior is getting complex and challenging to predict day by that with multiple choices, platforms, and steep competition. Online shoppers buy different products at different prices for various reasons. Understanding their motivation and need is key to excel in 2024 & beyond. Among the most common types of shoppers are impulse buyers, casual shoppers, need-based, research-oriented, and those who follow the trends, value-first shoppers have carved their niche looking for products that offer value for money and are on par with their lifestyle needs. Brands need to tap the buying potential of such shoppers and use insights competition to become the top pick of these shoppers. Health & Wellness, Beauty & Personal Care categories are key target segments. The digital native brands (DNB) catering to such niche of shoppers also need to track competition strategies on e-commerce and quick commerce platforms. 2. Expansion Across Tier 2, 3 Cities & Beyond Brands need to understand the landscape of online shopping has moved beyond tier-1 cities with more influx of shoppers coming from tier-2 & 3 cities. The ease of payment and high-speed internet penetration across tier-2 cities and beyond has led to rise of mobile commerce and social commerce as platforms like Meesho earned 60% of its sale during festive season sale from tier-2 cities. The 2023 was the year of expansion and discovery where tier-2 & 3 cities experience rise in presence of quick commerce -dark store for swift delivery. Even Amazon is witnessing an influx of shoppers into the prime ecosystem from tier 2 and 3 consumers discovering new categories. In 2022, during the prime day sale, the e-commerce retailers saw 65 percent of the growth coming from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Brands need to identify opportunities in these geographies and explore new opportunities. Identify gaps in the market presence at pin-code level. 3. Personalized Experience with Global Localization The world is shrinking in terms of reach and information access. Shoppers are aware of what’s going on in the global market and what is in trend but personalized experience and connect with products is still a key point in making purchase decision. Brands selling in global e-commerce ecosystem across multiple countries must be in-tune with needs of the local market and competition activities as one marketing experience not necessarily works on other marketplaces. Big brands need to monitor multiple platforms and geographies like one of the largest global beverage brands does it with mScanIt global digital shelf monitoring dashboard in AMESA region. Brands need to provide personalized experience and keep track of what’s trending on in the marketplace in their categories to extend their market share. 4. More Convenience with Quick Commerce The quick Commerce platforms has led to new era of online sales with convenience and fulfilling last minute need. Brands in Food & beverage category are approaching the platforms more aggressively as its dominating over in-store sales which cost hefty margins. The key challenge for platforms and brands on quick commerce in 2024 is optimizing performance and expanding across geographies along with monitoring needs of shoppers at granular level within cities. The rate at which quick commerce platforms are expanding product categories and number of SKUs the signs are looking more positive with rise in order volume and cart value. The new trends of quick sale and product launches have been witnessed recently like Unicorn Info Solutions (Apple reseller) partnering with Blinkit to deliver the latest-generation iPhone models in minutes. 5. Rise of D2C Commerce The D2C Commerce has been a breath of fresh air in 2023 as more investment comping in the wide variety of D2C players in e-commerce 2024 is looking bright. Digital Native Brands expanding horizon beyond their e-commerce websites and venturing into the e-commerce marketplaces and quick commerce arena. With the extension of reach and new sales platforms D2C ecosystem is all set to achieve new milestones in coming years especially in Beauty & personal care, Fashion and Health & Wellness product categories. D2C brands do not need extensive inventory tracking but need to be aware of the competition in traditional e-commerce and in niche category. Digital commerce intelligence for them is more about identifying the gaps in the market and building data-driven strategies. 6. E-commerce Intelligence for Competitive Monitoring Data driven growth is the mantra for 2024. Business intelligence build with competitive analytics and real-time actionable insights can give brand much need edge in highly competitive e-commerce landscape. The e-commerce intelligence help brand boost their product discoverability, keyword share and monitor stock availability in real-time versus competition. The product page content can be optimized to extend brands share of search with adherence to different guidelines across e-commerce & quick commerce platforms. Rating & Reviews tracking help brands identify what working for them and what’s not by keeping track of what people are talking about and working on it to enhance customer experience. Data -driven e-commerce business decision are going to set the tone for future of brands in upcoming rat-race of brands in digital commerce ecosystem. What Brands should do to keep up with the emerging e-commerce trends of 2024 trends? The brands need to be well aware of rapidly evolving shopping behavior and trends across platforms and geographies. The customer preference for tier-2 cities is quite in contrast to the tier-1 cities. Brands need to map what’s their preference is and identify the geographies and platforms

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Maximizing ROI

Maximizing ROI: Strategies for Low-Volume Inventory Placements in DV360

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In the world of digital marketing, programmatic advertising platforms like DV360 (Display & Video 360) have revolutionized the way advertisers connect with their target audience. However, when it comes to low-volume inventory placements, marketers often face unique challenges. In this article, we will explore the effective strategies for optimizing your digital marketing efforts within DV360 when dealing with low-volume inventory placements. What is Low-Volume Inventory Placements in Programmatic Advertising? Low-volume inventory placements refer to situations where there is limited ad inventory available on specific websites, apps, or placements. This scarcity of ad space can be due to various reasons, including niche audiences, limited content, or geographical constraints. Advertisers often find it challenging to allocate budgets effectively and generate meaningful results in such scenarios. Strategies for Success in Programmatic Advertising Maximizing Low-Volume Inventory Placements: Navigating the realm of low-volume inventory placements within DV360 demands a strategic approach. Every impression in such scenarios holds significant value, necessitating precise utilization of tools and tactics available within marketing and advertising technology. Here’s a breakdown of strategies tailored to optimize these opportunities: Precision Targeting through Audience Segmentation: Unlock the potential of DV360’s audience segmentation capabilities. Craft highly specific audience groups by leveraging both first-party and third-party data. The key lies in reaching the right audience with the right message to maximize impact despite limited ad inventory availability. Dynamic Creative Optimization: Personalization is pivotal. DCO empowers tailoring ad creatives to individual users based on their behaviour, interests, and demographics. Experimentation with diverse ad creatives helps identify the most engaging combinations for your unique audience. Real-Time Bidding (RTB) and Private Marketplaces (PMPs): RTB within DV360 ensures seizing valuable impressions as they arise in low-volume placements. Additionally, establish private marketplaces with publishers for priority access to limited inventory, particularly effective in niche placements. Mobile-Centric Approach and Cross-Device Optimization: Given the higher prevalence of low-volume placements on mobile devices, prioritize optimizing ad campaigns for mobile experiences. Implement cross-device targeting to extend reach across platforms and devices, maximizing the chances of locating available inventory. Continuous Monitoring and Agile Adjustments: The unpredictability of low-volume inventory demands constant vigilance. Regularly monitor campaign performance and dynamically adjust bids, targeting, and creatives based on real-time data insights. Automation via DV360’s rules facilitates instant adjustments under specific conditions. Strategic Budget Allocation and Bid Strategies: Allocate budgets strategically, focusing on placements likely to yield optimal results. Leverage DV360’s predictive modelling to identify and capitalize on these opportunities. Experimentation with different bid strategies, such as target impression share or target CPA, helps optimize budgetary impact. Blacklisting Long-Tail Placements for Enhanced Performance: Initiate the process of blacklisting long-tail placements to curb ad fraud and enhance performance. Removing consistently underperforming placements optimizes campaign efficacy and reallocates the budget toward high-performing avenues. For increased efficiency and to reduce the errors of false positives, opt for an ad fraud detection partner like mFilterIt to identify long-tail placements and curb their impact proactively. Way Forward In conclusion, while low-volume inventory placements within DV360 pose challenges, they also present lucrative prospects. Harness the potential of targeted audience segmentation, dynamic creative optimization, real-time bidding, and mobile-centric approaches. Stay agile, data-driven, and committed to constant monitoring and adaptation to thrive in this dynamic landscape.

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Phantom Impressions

Unmasking the Phantom Impressions: Know why your impressions are high, yet ROI is low

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The digital landscape is evolving rapidly and advertisers have the opportunity to tap the best out of it. It provides a wide scope to reach a vast set of audiences beyond boundaries. However, with the increased growth of digital, there are suspicious actors lurking in the shadows to dupe the advertisers. This leads to the wastage of the advertising budget; these traffic sources lead to no conversion. Imagine a scenario where your brand is investing in a digital advertising campaign, targeting specific placements and audiences. You’re looking forward to reaching your ideal audience, but as the campaign progresses, something seems off. Your ads, displayed in a tiny 0x0 ad size, repeatedly appear on the same IP address, offering no real marketing value and depleting your budget. A Real Case This is a classic example of digital marketing fraud, where rogue actors manipulate ad impressions to their advantage, leaving advertisers with empty pockets and minimal exposure. We have recently detected some of this unusual activity in one of our real estate partners, where some of the BOT-driven IPs showing ads in 0*0 pixels in the same root domains. How Fake Impressions Impact the Business? Ad Budget Wastage: Every 1000 impressions has a cost attached to it. Fraudsters leverage various methods to manipulate impressions. Fraudulent publishers push their inventories in programmatic advertising using methods like domain spoofing and generating AI content to create a website to host advertisements. These inventories generate a number of visitors, but they are low quality and lead to a waste of ad spending. Zero Marketing Impact: These fake impressions do not contribute to brand visibility or customer engagement, resulting in a futile marketing effort. The intended audience never sees these ads and the traffic sources interacting with the ads are often low-quality and don’t result in any gain. Brand Damage: Ineffective ad campaigns can erode consumer trust and damage your brand’s reputation. Apart from this, in programmatic advertising, ads also appear beside unsafe content which further damages the trust of the consumers in the brand. Way Forward The battle against digital marketing fraud is ongoing, but strategies like Real-time Monitoring, Set Frequency Caps, Data Analysis, and Geographic Targeting are some of the strategies you can employ to minimize its impact. Digital marketing is a powerful tool for reaching your target audience, but it’s not without its challenges. However, with vigilance, the right tools, and a strategic approach, you can protect your campaigns from these fake impressions and ensure your advertising dollars are spent effectively. This is where mFilterIt comes in, which is a segment-first ad fraud detection software company that empowers advertisers with transparent data and clean traffic by detecting invalid sources and actively blacklisting the IPs & placements to ensure every impression, click & visit should be a step toward your marketing goals, not a ghostly drain on your budget. Stay informed, stay vigilant, and keep your brand safe from the shadows of digital marketing fraud.

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Sale

Be Sale-Ready: Stock it up to score big on the Black Friday & Diwali Season Sale

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Is it too early to talk about it? Is It? Not Really! Time is running out! To a shopper, it may seem like a couple of days of sale but for brands the preparation begins at least a month early, we have already entered the festive season followed by a mega season sale on Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra building up to the Diwali Weekend. Every brand must be aware of who, when, and where to target and what their competitors are up to. The path to score big on sale event season is not easy. Black Friday sales globally broke records in 2022, shoppers in India increased their orders by 65 percent as compared to 2021 and their spending by 64 percent during the sale week compared to the usual period. And new milestones are expected to be set in 2024. So, what are we waiting for let’s dive deeper to understand the challenges on event days and how brands can make optimal use of these opportunities during the sales season and beyond. Identify the event days to target Every eCommerce platform has different reach and preferences. Knowing where you more picked up and where you need to target is key to optimizing your marketing strategies. Event days like Black Friday and Diwali sales witness a rapid increase in order volume. Brands need to identify the gaps in the market during these event days and target ads & promo offers to reach new shoppers. Every platform has different shopping patterns and different event days, therefore brands need to keep up with platform-specific requirements. Every year consumer activity is dispersed more evenly throughout the sale period and is less focused on just Friday. A lot of companies extended the sale period to include the days leading up to and following Black Friday till the following Monday known as Cyber Monday. Even Indian festive season sale runs before the Diwali week with product expected to be delivered before Diwali. Shoppers are always eager to take advantage of the limited-time deals, which results in a higher number of orders within a short period. Brands need to ensure their systems can handle the increased load and that their logistics are well-equipped to manage such a surge in orders. Amazon Great Indian Festival 2023 witnessed a record 9.5 crore customer visits within the first 48 hours. 80 percent of the shoppers were from non-metro cities. Source: Amazon India Match product demand with Order Fulfilment One of the critical aspects of these event days is ensuring efficient order fulfillment. Brands need to ensure that they have enough stock available in their warehouses to meet the increased demand during the sales period. Having the right amount of inventory is crucial to avoid stock-outs and ensure customer satisfaction. Also maintaining a well-stocked warehouse is essential to cater to the surge in orders during these events. Brands need to anticipate the demand and stock their warehouses accordingly to prevent any inventory shortages. Keep Track of In-stock and out-of-stock items: Brands must keep real-time track of their stock status, in-stock product availability tracking, and monitoring when & where the products are going out of stock. The stock situation is key during the festive season. Brands must keep track of the trends to set promo offers and match stock to meet expected demand. Monitor Price & Promos trends: Brands must be aware of key trends across marketplaces and what competitor brands are targeting. For example – In 2022, low ticket purchases and demand for unbranded fashion products from Tier-II towns and beyond propelled Meesho ahead of Amazon in terms of order volume (Source: Redseer Report), but Amazon sold items of higher values during the same period with massive rise in numbers. Flipkart and Amazon together clocked 88% of $5.7 Billion GMV during the first week of the festive season. With strong positioning in the fashion segment, the likes of Myntra and AJIO earned good numbers. Finding the right balance between pricing and volume is crucial. Offering attractive discounts and deals can drive higher sales volumes, but brands need to ensure that they don’t compromise their profitability. Strategic pricing strategies can help achieve this balance. Keep Track of Industry Trends The success of these event days often relies on the performance of specific product categories. In this context, mobile phones have consistently been a leading product category during festive season sales. They attract a significant share of the Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), indicating strong demand. The fashion segment also plays a substantial role in driving sales, appealing to shoppers looking for clothing, accessories, and related products. For example, in the consumer durables industry, products like electronics and appliances see increased demand during these events. Similarly, the gifting industry, which includes items like cookies and chocolates, experiences a boost in sales as people often buy gifts for their loved ones during festive seasons. Optimize Sponsored Banner (Season specific): eCommerce ad banner performance is key to upswing sales during the festive season. Brands must keep track of banner keyword performance, display targeting, and category targeting. Using season-specific banners and advertisements helps brands grab the attention of shoppers who are actively looking for deals during these events. Ensure your banner theme and keywords are compelling and drive more traffic to their online stores. Final Thoughts The eCommerce event days open new opportunities for brands to boost their sales and engage with customers. This is the moment when brands also extend their reach and are able to attract new shoppers. Identifying gaps in competitors and taking timely advantages is key to excel in the competitive landscape. Also, strengthen your strategies with a data-driven approach. Business intelligence gives brands a much-needed edge during aggressive shopping bonanzas. Proper planning, inventory management, effective pricing strategies, and appealing marketing campaigns are essential to making the most out of these opportunities. mScanIt, digital commerce intelligence can pave the road map to navigate through the challenges of season sales and beyond. Actionable insights and in-depth analysis on PIs (Key Performance Indicators), availability, pricing, keywords share, Product detail

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