groceries online - nz seo reach 2014

Title page

Which websites are maximising their

market share? Searching for Groceries

Online

Copyright © FIRST., part of the BeyondD Pty Ltd Group. http://www.firstdigital.co.nz

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Calculating Share of Search

• Rankings Based Reach (RBR)* provides a simple way to compare a

website’s search engine rankings with its competitors.

• RBR is an estimate of the percentage of available search traffic a

website will receive for a set of phrases – this gives the site’s share

of search or reach.

• It is weighted based on the popularity of each search phrase and the

relative click through rate (CTR) of each ranking position.

*Source: Rankings Based Reach (RBR) is a methodology developed by FIRST., http://www.firstdigital.co.nz

http://www.firstdigital.co.nz/

http://www.first.co.nz/


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Selected sites

The following New Zealand grocery sites were selected for Ranking Based Reach (RBR)

organic search performance analysis.


Sites

countdown.co.nz

farrofresh.co.nz

foursquare.co.nz

huckleberryfarms.co.nz

mightymart.co.nz

newworld.co.nz

noshfoodmarket.com

paknsave.co.nz

supermarketonline.co.nz

supervalue.co.nz




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What are people searching for?

Source: Google Keyword Tool, New Zealand exact match, Jan 2014

In order to identify which websites are leading in organic search FIRST researched

frequently used grocery-related phrases.

Search Phrase

Local searches per

month Search Phrase

Local searches per

month

chocolate cake recipe 6,600 gluten free 1,600

chicken recipes 5,400 lactose intolerance 1,600

huggies 5,400 easy desserts 1,300

cupcake recipe 4,400 fruit 1,300

online shopping 4,400 healthy food 1,300

chocolate 3,600 wine 1,300

food 3,600 vegetarian meals 1,000

cake 2,400 dairy 720

dinner ideas 2,400 supermarket 720

ice cream 2,400 online supermarket 90

pasta recipes 2,400 fresh food 30

cheese sauce 1,900 food shopping 10

cookies 1,600

Total searches per month (NZ)

57,470

Total searches per year

689,640





5

Search trends

Source: Relative total keyword performance on a normalised scale of 1 to 100, Google Trends, New Zealand, January 2014

The chart below illustrates interest in key search terms “online supermarket” and “online food” in New Zealand over the

last 10 years.


0

20

40

60

80

100

120

online supermarket online food

As the search trends show, there is large

potential for the search terms “online

supermarket” and “food online”.

To be successful, companies need to focus

on SEO all-year-round to generate revenue

from seasonal spikes.




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Search trends for “gluten free”

Gluten free products are playing an increasingly

important role for consumer buying decisions and

consumer search volume has been steadily rising over

the past 10 years.

Supermarkets therefore need to consider niche

consumer search behaviour, such as “gluten free”

search terms, in their content marketing strategies.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

01/04 01/05 01/06 01/07 01/08 01/09 01/10 01/11 01/12 01/13

gluten free

gluten free






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Pak’n’Save and New World left behind

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

New World Countdown Pak n Save

The search term “Countdown” has been steadily rising

since the end of 2010 and passed New World in October

2011. Pak’n’Save has been left behind by its biggest

competitor, Progressive-owned Countdown.

To combat being left behind, runner-up

supermarkets need to drive consumer brand

recognition via search, display, social and email

remarketing campaigns.






8

Farro Fresh and Nosh Food Market are catching up

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

01/04 01/05 01/06 01/07 01/08 01/09 01/10 01/11 01/12 01/13

farro

nosh

Nosh and Farro show large search volumes

during Christmas seasons. This is no wonder as

both stores offer extensive choices for niche fresh

food products including cheese, ham and

delicatessen.

There is a real opportunity for Farro and Nosh

to establish themselves online as the defacto

standard for “the freshest food”






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Google: Search engine results page 1

What the consumer sees: The top of the Google search results page for a search on “online supermarket”

Up to 2 keyword-

related Google ads for

paid search terms lead

the Google search

results page: New

World and Countdown

rank in first and second

position for the search

term “online

supermarket”

Organic search results:

Countdown.co.nz

ranks first for the

search term

“online supermarket”.

Surprisingly, relative

newcomer

“Supermarket Online”

ranks second and is

beating New World.

Mighty Mart, and

Supermarket Online

have chosen not to

utilise paid search



10

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

paid organic

Source: Chikita, 2010 (Organic Search) & Accuracast 2009 (Paid Search)

35% of users click

on the top organic

search result

Almost 95% of organic

traffic goes to the top 10

results

The importance of top rankings

Search engine position

Pro

po

rtio

n o

f clic

ks





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Rankings Based Reach: Natural Search

Source of ranking data: Google New Zealand, www.google.co.nz, January 2014. * includes all websites under the relevant domain name (eg, including www. and shop.)


0.0%

0.2%

0.4%

0.6%

0.8%

1.0%

Ran

kin

gs

Based

Reach

MASSIVE OPPORTUNITY

The RBR leader is

quite a bit ahead of the

competition.

Pak’n’Save will need sustained focus

on natural search optimisation should

it wish to challenge the leading

supermarkets online.

Supermarket Online is

only selling groceries

online and is doing

quite well compared to

its much larger

competitiors!

These websites can compete by

optimising for highly relevant and popular

search phrases.


http://www.google.co.nz/



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Consumer Research: Supermarket Brand Recognition

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

Nosh Food Market is nearly twice

as well known as Farro Fresh –

and NZ consumers also buy

products nearly twice as much at

Nosh (see next slide).

The three top supermarkets (Countdown,

Pak’n’Save and New World) are very

well-known. As expected, 97% - 98% of

Kiwis have heard of these brands.

Copyright © FIRST., part of the BeyondD Pty Ltd Group. http://www.firstdigital.co.nz This representative survey was carried out by 3Di Research on

the Great Sites platform Jan 2014 (n=3,133).

Question 1: Which of the following supermarket brand

names do you recognise? (Tick all that apply).




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Consumer Research: Supermarket Purchasing Behaviour (Offline)

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

Although people know Countdown

and Pak’n’Save equally well, they

bought groceries 19% more often at

Countdown (offline).

Almost 88% of people

know Foursquare (see

previous slide), but only

28% tend to buy groceries

there.

Copyright © FIRST., part of the BeyondD Pty Ltd Group. http://www.firstdigital.co.nz This representative survey was carried out by 3Di Research on


Question 2: From which of the following supermarkets

have you purchased in the last 3 months in person

(offline)? (Tick all that apply).




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Consumer Research: Supermarket Purchasing Behaviour (Online)

Countdown is the market

leader for online

purchasing. Pak’n’Save

does not sell grocieries

online. New World has

recently started some

trials in the Wellington

area.


0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

7.00%

8.00%

9.00%

10.00%

Countdown New World Mighty Mart Supermarket Online

Farro Fresh Huckleberry Farms

Although Mighty Mart is not as

well-known as Supermarket

Online, slightly more people

have actually purchased

groceries online at Mighty Mart.

That is a great result.

This representative survey was carried out by 3Di Research on


Question 3: From which of the following supermarkets

have you purchased in the last 3 months online via their

website ? (Tick all that apply).



Groceries

Summary &

Observations

Copyright © FIRST., part of the BeyondD Pty Ltd Group. http://www.firstdigital.co.nz * Source: How Digital Influences How We Shop Around the World, AC Nielsen, August

2012

• The groceries sector in New Zealand is dominated by Countdown, New

World and Pak’nSave. All three of them have invested in paid search for

incremental clicks.

• Most grocery and supermarket websites have a very low organic RBR

score, under 1% (!). This represents a big opportunity for natural search

optimisation.

• A study involving 56 countries (including New Zealand) showed that

consumer intention to buy food and beverages online increased by 44

percent in two years (2010 to 2012) and 6 from 10 global respondents

used the Internet for grocery shopping research.*

• A considered search strategy that integrates both organic and paid

search should be a key customer acquisition channel for

supermarkets, driving revenue and growing the supermarket’s share

of digital spend.

• Buying groceries online in NZ is a new, upcoming industry. Countdown is

the market leader, but New World is making attempts to compete in this

market. Although Mighty Mart is the least known supermarket, it seems to

be generating more purchases than its closest competitors (excluding

Countdown and New World).



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About FIRST.

Respected digital veterans are the foundation our agency is built upon: each team holds

a core capability that feeds into a business’ digital requirements. Our expertise in digital

has been built on over 14 years’ experience in digital strategy, web design and build,

search marketing and digital campaigns.

FIRST, our award-winning team of Internet marketers, has helped over 300 companies

across 100 industries achieve digital success. We provide companies with a digital

roadmap to success centred around a “digitally led” sales and marketing strategy.

Our services span search (SEO and SEM), email, performance media, conversion

optimisation and advanced analytics. We produce leading creative across all digital

areas. And we build eCommerce sites, CMS-driven sites, mobile apps, social media

initiatives and microsites. Most importantly, our work is underpinned by a focus on

delivering the return on investment our clients expect.





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Contact us

Contact FIRST to find out more.

Phone +64 (9) 920 1740

Email [email protected]

Web http://www.firstdigital.co.nz/






groceries online - nz seo reach 2014

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