Clarks USA increased conversion rates by 130% after implementing Criteo’s advanced bidding technology. The footwear brand’s ecommerce marketing team had been focused on direct response tactics such as paid search and affiliate marketing with modest efforts at performance marketing – but they knew they could be doing more. So, the team partnered with Criteo to increase scale and efficiency.
Case study summary
• Footwear brand moved into performance marketing to increase scale and efficiency
• Strategy cut out ineffective ads to focus only on users with highest potential based on conversions, not just clicks
• 130% increase in conversion rates and 44% uplift in sales
The challenge
Founded nearly 200 years ago in an English village, Clarks is an iconic footwear brand that today operates in more than 35 countries, with footwear lines that include Clarks, Bostonian and Originals.
larks Americas serves a broad customer mix with a very diverse portfolio of footwear options, so advertising the right shoe to the right customer at the right time is complex. In addition, because Clarks shoes are available at so many online outlets, it’s vital for the brand to sustain a brand conversation with consumers and be top-of-mind when it comes time to purchase. These factors make dynamic performance display well suited to the company’s marketing strategy.
The company’s ecommerce marketing team had been focused on direct response tactics such as paid search and affiliate marketing with modest efforts at performance marketing – but they knew they could be doing more.
To ramp up the scale and efficiency of their performance display strategy, they partnered with Criteo in 2013.
The solution
Criteo has helped Clarks cut out ineffective ad placements and ad formats and focus only on the users with the highest potential based on conversions, not just clicks.
Criteo campaigns deliver both the sales results and return on ad spend the Clarks team was looking for, enabling them to capture more of the demand they drive via other channels.
Highly personalized ads offer product recommendations driven directly from site-data and inventory. Each customer sees the right shoes at the time when they are most likely to buy – whether it’s a pair they browsed at the Clarks site or a pair they’ve never seen but might love.
The Clarks team works with their Criteo account strategist on a weekly basis to continually analyze and optimize campaigns for steady performance gains. The efficiency and success of its campaigns so far has made Clarks eager to test and try out new Criteo products. In April
2014, they launched a powerful new update to Criteo’s engine featuring additional bidding intelligence. The new enhancement helped Clarks take their campaigns to the next level of performance by targeting consumers based on their likelihood to click on an ad and then purchase on Clarks’ website.
The results
• 130% increase in conversion rates
• 44% uplift in sales
Kylie Beals, eCommerce Marketing Manager at Clarks, said: “The top three reasons we really value Criteo are scale, service and, of course, performance. They have exceeded our expectations in terms of both topline order volumes and return on ad spend.”
Criteo has helped streamline Clarks’ campaigns to cut out ineffective placements and ad formats and focus only on the most high-potential users based on conversions, not just clicks. With Criteo’s enhanced engine capabilities, Clarks can automatically determine which users are most likely to convert and focus bids on them, maximizing the impact and performance of their campaigns.
Criteo’s advanced bidding technology has helped drive a significant increase in Clarks’ campaign performance. After launching Criteo’s enhanced engine, Clarks has seen an impressive 130% increase in conversion rates, and 44% uplift in sales.
