How a Brand Partnership with Morrisons Boosted Appliances Direct's CVR by +39%
Read how a brand partnership between an electrical retailer and grocery giant targeted customers high up in the eCommerce funnel over Christmas.
A prominent feature of Q4, the festive period is significant to many retail verticals, but perhaps none more so than grocery.
It’s estimated that UK shoppers alone spent £13.7 billion on groceries in the lead-up to Christmas 2023, an increase of +7% year on year, making this period all the more crucial for UK supermarkets to get right.
The limited timeframe of Christmas makes it imperative to find good-fit acquisition partners delivering high-converting audiences. That’s where a mutually beneficial brand partnership comes into its own.
The challenge
Looking to drive extra revenue through Q4, electrical retailer Appliances Direct was on the search for a new brand partnership. After considering the nature of its business, it found grocery to be an ideal match.
Its decision rested on a number of factors. Firstly, by stocking products that made use of ingredients purchased in Morrisons’ supermarkets (e.g. fridges, ovens), Appliances Direct had the means of turning a routine grocery shop into a complementary purchase – often the fuel of a successful brand partnership.
Secondly, Appliances Direct is popular among homeowners, many of whom would be responsible for completing a Christmas grocery shop in preparation for hosting their friends and family.
Appliances Direct tasked BrandSwap with finding an exclusive grocery offer it could support with elevated on-site exposure, in addition to email and social promotion.
The solution
BrandSwap sourced an exclusive offer from UK supermarket Morrisons, which gave Appliances Direct customers ‘25% off’ a first online order above £40. Any customer could get up to £15 off their Christmas shop provided they were new to file.
To ensure a high level of coverage, BrandSwap enabled Morrisons to take a prominent spot on the Appliances Direct homepage.
The resulting brand partnership and user journey hit the balance between instilling urgency and keeping the customer on track with their purchase.
Step by step:
- Banner appears for customers on the homepage.
- On clicking through, customers are directed to a Christmas page featuring a native overlay with a box to opt into Morrisons’ reward.
- On checking the box, customers carry on shopping as normal. Their promotion is delivered post-checkout.
Appliances Direct’s brand partnership with Morrisons delivered all the tools to succeed, with plenty of smart touches.
Three outcomes
Each customer had to purchase at Appliances Direct to qualify for their reward from Morrisons. This smart ‘gift-with-purchase’ strategy generated an optimal outcome for all sides. Appliances Direct incentivised a sale without using a discount; Morrisons gained new customers; and the customers got more value on their purchases.
Upper-funnel targeting
Retail media campaigns like Morrisons’ are typically positioned lower down the funnel as an incentive to buy. The homepage banner introduced Morrisons as a brand partner early in the conversion path, at a key point in the consideration phase.
Minimal disruption to conversion path
The user journey gave Morrisons maximum visibility while keeping shoppers focused on their purchase at Appliances Direct. The shoppers who opted into Morrisons’ offer saw confirmation via the checkout page before receiving an email with the full details.
Extra value
For even more value, customers had the opportunity to redeem other rewards from brand partners like the AA and Ancestry on the Appliances Direct checkout page.
The results
The attractiveness of Morrisons’ reward, its prominent placement, and native user journey gave Appliances Direct a way of boosting conversions without using a discount. But how did the customers respond?
Measuring conversion rates before and after the offer went live, Appliances Direct reported a 39% increase in its on-site conversion rate.
Free gifts are a recognised method of incentivising purchases, but having the gift funded by a brand partner – who also landed a new customer every time the offer was redeemed – provided a uniquely beneficial outcome.
“BrandSwap enabled us to partner with a major supermarket and create inventory that fitted seamlessly into our existing customer experience. The +39% boost in our conversion rate shows how powerful these types of partnerships can be for retailers and advertisers, as well as delivering extra value to our customers.”
To execute this strategy yourself, make sure you cover these three points:
- Have the support of a brand partner offering a strong reward.
- Prioritise a non-invasive user journey that enhances rather than disrupts the customer’s primary motive.
- Find a brand partner with an audience overlap to create a complementary reward.
Fancy using a brand partnership to boost your conversions? Message hello@brandswap.com for free gift-with-purchase ideas.
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