Small Appliance contender wins on Lowes.com

A multi-product manufacturer wanted to increase their product sales within the Small Appliance category on Lowes.com, a valuable and high-volume retailer that could help connect more customers with the manufacturer’s products.

However, the Small Appliance category on Lowes.com is highly competitive with hundreds of brands vying for the attention of customers. Two long-time market leaders, in particular, had the advantage of strong organic quality scores (the non-visible rankings provided by retailers that determine organic search result placements) built over time. In Q4 of 2021, the manufacturer launched a successful holiday campaign, but it ultimately fell short of category benchmarks given that competition with companies who had stronger quality scores could place lower bids while still winning placements.

Targeting shoppers with Sponsored Products at the point of purchase

To cut through the competition and get their products in front of more customers on Lowes.com, the manufacturer teamed up with Criteo to strengthen their Sponsored Products advertising tactics. As a result, Criteo helped the manufacturer define a long-term strategy to win on Lowes.com.

The manufacturer’s improved plan included four key pillars:

1. Continue aggressive bidding to counteract lower quality scores
2. Maintain an always-on approach year-round which would then improve these scores
3. Partner with Criteo and Lowe’s to secure access to newly expanded placements enabling them to connect with consumers more thoughtfully and frequently
4. Focus on ensuring campaigns were fully optimized, such as focusing on priority SKUs and maintaining budget fluidity to shift funds to highest-performing SKUs

With an improved strategy and a deep commitment to their Sponsored Products campaign, the brand manufacturer increased their return on ad spend by >350% from Q4 to Q1, a threefold increase, while maintaining a constant spending level. Some high-performing SKUs saw a return on ad spend of nearly 1,000%. Further, improving the manufacturer’s performance on Lowes.com will almost certainly strengthen their quality scores, creating a virtuous cycle. That’s no small feat.