The document discusses how retailers can use shopping analytics and data to improve their online advertising by answering four critical questions: 1) Is this a valuable ad moment? 2) What is the value of the ad moment? 3) What is the buyer's context at this moment? 4) How do I maximize the moment? It argues that applying shopping analytics to address these questions can help retailers create unique and personalized ad experiences for customers and improve marketing performance and returns.

1. Every day there are over one billion queries made by online shoppers. Each month, over
1.5 trillion digital interaction decisions occur. Your potential customers are engaging
with your—or your competitors—ads while they research and buy products. Are you
giving them what they’re looking for?
Every marketing authority says the same thing—you have to deliver the right ad to the
right person at the right time. While we’re getting closer to being able to deliver on this,
we’re not quite there. We can, however, use the massive amount of data we collect to
create a unique ad experience for each shopper.
There is one simple truth—the more you know, the more they buy.
This white paper will explore the ways retailers can use shopping data and analytics
to deliver the best advertising experience for shoppers.
Learn how shopping analytics can help answer
these four questions:
• Is this a valuable ad moment?
• What is the value of the ad moment?
• What is my buyer’s context at this moment?
• How do I maximize the moment?
The latest
More on the evolution of modern
online advertising on our blog:
www.adlucent.com/blog
About BuyerPath™
BuyerPath™ is an applied shopping
analytics platform that leverages
query data, in-market data, CRM
data and online/offline shopper
demographics to help retailers find,
value, and maximize valuable ad
moments for optimal return.
By Bruce Flory, CMO, Adlucent
APPLIED SHOPPING
ANALYTICS:
The key to creating a unique ad experience
The more you know...
...the more they’ll buy.

2. The Benefits of Knowing More
Since 2001, Adlucent has connected buyers to products through its shopping analytics
platform, DeepSearch™.
Our goal has been two-fold—drive and deliver predictable, superior performance and
make online advertising increasingly consumer-centric.
When a retailer continuously improves their knowledge of a consumer’s behavior and
preferences, and then applies that knowledge to create more targeted, relevant ads, their
performance skyrockets.
In fact, Adlucent clients have seen performance gains that are 2-5X greater than the
industry average.
Three challenges retailers must overcome to create a
unique ad experience:
Omnichannel
The line between online and offline has blurred. Mobile has now shifted control
to the consumer. The path from query to purchase now spans multiple devices
that are usable anywhere.
Volume
The volume of searches has increased dramatically and continues to grow.
With over eight billion queries a month, the ability to identify and value search
opportunities with precision demands sophisticated tools for ad practitioners.
Technology
Technology has advanced to a point where it is now possible to use a variety
of online and offline data to understand consumer behavior, including the ads
they respond to, and the best way to deliver them.
Let’s explore how the latest innovations in shopping analytics can unlock the answers to
critical ad questions in today’s online advertising environment.
Note from the CEO:
“Ultimately, what we’re trying
to do is help retailers satisfy
a consumer’s needs and
interests. It goes beyond which
ad is the right ad to serve; it’s
which experience from ad to
checkout is best at creating a
unique shopping experience.
We are the only company, to
my knowledge, that looks at
competitor price, promotions,
demographics, shipping costs,
inventory, weather, household
income, and many other factors
to determine the likelihood
of delivering a valuable ad
moment – for consumer and
retailer. This is how we deliver
unexpectedly positive results.”
– Michael Griffin, CEO, Adlucent
1
2
3

3. Answering the four most critical ad questions, at scale.
This is really a story of three types of queries; the one you know is valuable, the one
you didn’t know was valuable, and the one that is valuable, sometimes.
Chances are you have a search strategy that includes analyzing both your website and
product feed to determine which queries (keywords) are the most valuable. Expanded
analytics can also be used to evaluate text and product ad traffic, organic search, and
site search to expand the keyword build process.
Applied shopping analytics can augment this approach by:
» Evaluating the new queries to determine if they’re applicable. An additional 25
percent are created each month.
» Suppress ads for what appear to be a valuable ad moments, but due to in-
market conditions, they are not. This includes insufficient inventory, competitive
promotions that put you at a price disadvantage , and more. A keyword may indicate
this is a relevant query but the conversion opportunity is low.
Maximizing performance begins with finding all of your valuable ad moments and
suppressing the rest.
In-Market Data Presents New Opportunities for One Etailer
With their peak holiday season approaching quickly, Adlucent focused on ensuring that
the highest performing products were showing for the top search terms. By expanding
the relevant query population, Adlucent was able to show the right products for the right
queries, directly resulting in a year-over-year lift of 24% in conversion rate. Adlucent’s
BuyerPath™ platform consolidates data in a unique way to optimize feeds for greater
visibility. This retailer saw a year-over-year increase in revenue of 29% and 102% when
looking at pre-holiday and peak holiday date comparisons.
Question 1:
BuyerPath™
features:
BuyerPath™ helps you determine
which customers’ queries apply to
your business.
We determine if you carry products
that may meet that customer’s
intent, and whether those products
are in stock.
Adlucent mines all queries to find
your valuable ad moments, even
from new queries you may have
never seen before, so you don’t
miss an opportunity.
IS THIS A VALUE
AD MOMENT?
Pre Holiday Peak Holiday
Pre-Adlucent Post Adlucent
29%
102%
YoY Increase in Revenue
(2012 vs 2013)
CASE STUDY

4. Not every ad moment is equally valuable, but every moment can make a contribution.
Query head terms are obvious ad moments, but it’s likely you and your competitors
are bidding for these, which drive up costs and diminish return on ad spend (ROAS).
On the other hand, there are huge opportunities buried deep in the long tail for retailers
equipped to find them.
Assigning a bid value to each ad moment is difficult for retailers—especially those with a
high number of SKUs. Maintaining them is even more challenging. But with an analytics
platform that includes query performance, point of sale results, and product margins,
retailers can predict the return on investment and business impact of each ad moment.
Have confidence each ad moment drives the business results you expect with the
precision needed to value every possibility against revenue and profitability goals.
Buyer shopping behavior is much more complex than ever, and many changes in behavior
is not accounted for in the analytical approaches and the tools generally available
today. People use multiple devices online and offline along their path to purchase. To
understand the complex touch points required and value them appropriately, we have to
understand consumer behavior and marry that with better analytics.
Google’s Enhanced Campaigns allows retailers to incorporate bid parting into their
search strategies. Bid parting is particularly useful when targeting shoppers in various
geographies, on different device types, and at certain times of the day. Adlucent has
taken bid parting a step further by applying shopping analytics to bid parting decisions.
See example on the next page.
The data needed to improve online advertising decisions is available, but it remains
largely untapped. Adlucent has used this data to pioneer advanced shopping analytics.
BuyerPath™
features:
Adlucent fully leverages the bid
adjustment capabilities available
with Google Enhanced Campaigns.
Using sophisticated algorithms
and extensive in-house testing,
bids are modified depending on
the context of the shopper: where
they are, what device they’re on,
the time of day, and their inclusion
in a particular audience (e.g., cart
abandoner).
WHAT IS THE VALUE
OF THE AD MOMENT?
Question 2:
WHAT IS MY
BUYER’S CONTEXT?
Question 3:
BuyerPath™
features:
We give you an unfair advantage in
valuing and bidding by considering
query performance and a rich set
of personal conversion catalysts
and in-market data to predict the
likelihood of conversion and return
on ad spend.
Adlucent’s Software as a Service
applications allow you to set
business goals (e.g. revenue,
ROAS, impressions, new customer
acquisition), then analyzes
historical shopping and query
performance to establish the
optimal value for each and every
relevant ad moment.

5. So far everything is lining up as planned. Now the moment of truth—will the buyer act on
the ad and make a purchase?
Identifying valuable ad moments, valuing them properly, and aligning with the buyer’s
context (time, location, and device) are absolutely critical, but the right ad tips the scales
in your favor and the wrong ad fails to take advantage of the moment.
The right ad is more than the right product. Buyers ultimately have a choice, and a
number of factors (or personal conversion catalysts) play heavily into their choice. With
the right shopping analytics, these conversion catalysts can be analyzed and applied to
ad decisions.
The right applied shopping analytics can help you design and deliver ads that not only
satisfy a buyer’s interest, but also compel them to buy – a merchandiser’s dream!
HOW DO I MAXIMIZE
THE MOMENT?
Question 4:
CASE STUDY
A 30% Revenue Increase
In this example, a retailer who sells window furnishings wants to increase revenue.
The retailer knows that these products are frequently purchased shortly after a
new home purchase or when a major remodel is happening. At Adlucent, we tried
something a bit different. We went out to a third party to gather data about new
home construction and remodeling, by month, for every city and state. We took this
data and stack ranked the areas we wanted to target. We modified bids upwards for
cities with high construction activity and downwards for cities with low construction
activity. Over the course of several months, we increased aggregate revenue by
a whopping 30%. Of course, home construction is seasonal so we’re constantly
updating this data to do these calculations.
Ft. Lauderdale Houston
$0K
$50K
$100K
$150K
$200K
$250K
Revenue Growth by Geography
Consumer Purchase
Catalysts:
Along with ad copy and product
choices, these tools (or catalysts)
can turn a shopper into a buyer:
• Pricing (Special Offers)
• Free Shipping / Free Returns
• Coupons / Promotions
• Ratings / Reviews

6. Relevancy Rewarded
We’ve all had it happen—you begin to search the web and you’re bombarded with ads.
You quickly realize the ads that are being displayed are promoting a website that your
brother said you should check out. You have no interest in what you found, yet here’s
the ad, staring you in the face.
In an online world cluttered with ads that target the wrong people with the wrong
products, delivering lukewarm promotional motivation, consumers are tuning out.
Irrelevant advertisements, in any form, are not going to covert. A significant percentage
of the $20B in search ad spend will be ineffectual, if not outright wasted.
Investments in shopping analytics allow retailers to create unique ad experiences,
serving the needs and interests of consumers, wherever the consumers path to purchase
may take them. And when retailers deliver a relevant experience they will be rewarded
with more sales and improved business results.
Proven Expertise, when and how you need it
Over the years, Adlucent has been developing, improving, and extending its Applied
Shopping Analytics platform, BuyerPath,™ to help its clients know more about their
customers and apply the learnings to todays modern online advertising infrastructure.
What’s the payoff? Dramatic improvements in ad conversions. Revenue, not clicks.
Adlucent serves its clients with a mix of technology and a full range of services,
tailored to the individual retailer. The search marketing experts who helped define and
continuously perfect BuyerPath™ are the same ones who deliver custom services to their
clients, each and every day.
Are you ready to get started with applied shopping analytics? Contact us today for a
free assessment of your online ad programs, and we’ll give you ideas on how you can
leverage applied shopping analytics to create unique advertising experiences for your
buyers.
Let’s Chat
w: adlucent.com/buyerpath
p: 1-800-788-9152
e: solutions@adlucent.com
ABOUT ADLUCENT
DISCOVER HOW TO CREATE A COMPETITIVE EDGE at adlucent.com
BuyerPath™
features:
BuyerPath’s unique Shopping
Analytics ensure your ads
contain the right answers to drive
conversions, including effective
promotions, offers, and pricing
aligned to buyer preferences that
are scientifically proven to improve
conversions.
Adlucent’s extensive testing
capabilities ensure that the right ad
text and landing pages are delivered
to maximize the opportunity.