Online
Department
Stores
What are we
searching for?
2
3
CONT E N T S
Table of contents
02
T a b l e o f c on t e n t s
03
Search
06
Fash i on v s. f ootwe a r
04
A f e w ke y pi e c e s
08
A b ou t S i mi l arWe b
Stepping up
the Competition
in Search
De par tme nt Stor e s pr e date the inte r ne t by at l ea s t a
c e ntur y , but in the ag e of online shopping they h a v e
be e n e x pe r ie nc ing inc r e ase d c ompe tition, both f r o m
e ac h othe r , and fr om ne w play e r s in the mar ke t.
I n pr e par ation for the holiday se ason, w he n de pa r t m en t
stor e s do muc h of the ir busine ss, Similar We b c om p a r ed
and analy ze d shopping habits and mar ke ting stra t egi es
for le ading U S r e taile r s-- Mac y ’ s, Blooming dale ’ s, Za p p o s ,
N or dstr om, and Saks Fifth A ve nue . The main fin d i n g i s
that de par tme nt stor e s’ most impor tant c ate g o r y f o r
online se ar c h tr affic is footw e ar .
4
A Few Key Pieces
In Q 4 2 0 1 4 , t h e s e w e r e t he t o p 1 0 de pa r t m e nt st o r e se a r c h
t erm s f o r p a i d an d o r g a ni c :
L oo k i n g a t t h e t o p 1 0 se a r c h phr a se s ( e x c l udi ng t e r m s
with t h e s t o r e n a m e s ) , S i m i l a r We b unc o v e r e d a st r i k i ng
d if fe r e n c e b e t w e e n p a i d a nd o r g a ni c se a r c h. I n pa i d
s ear c h , m o s t t e r m s a r e br a nd na m e s t ha t a r e so l d i n
s t or e s - U g g s , Ca n ad a G o o se , a nd M i c ha e l K o r s ( w hi c h i s
a ls o t h e o n l y b r an d t h a t c o nsi st e nt l y r a nk e d a m o ng t he t o p
10 t h r o u g h o u t t h e y e a r ) . I n o r g a ni c se a r c h, m o st t e r m s a r e
f or g e n e r i c i t e m s s o l d a t st o r e s, l i k e sho e s o r w a t c he s. T hi s
c a n p r o b a b l y b e a t t r i but e d t o t he f a c t t ha t l ux ur y br a nds
a re m o r e e x p e n s i v e , a nd ha v e hi g he r m a r g i ns f o r r e t a i l e r s.
Depa r t m e n t s t o r e s t h e r e f o r e c ho o se t o c o nc e nt r a t e t he i r
o n li n e a d s p e n d o n t h o se br a nds, i nc r e a si ng t r a f f i c f r o m
t a rg e t e d b u y e r s s e a r c hi ng f o r t he se i t e m s.
In t h e f o u r t h q u a r t e r o f 2 0 1 4 , bo t h pa i d a nd o r g a ni c
s ear c h e s f o r b r an d n a m e s r a nk t he hi g he st - - 3 o ut o f 1 0
o rg a n i c s e a r c h t e r m s , a nd 9 o ut o f 1 0 pa i d se a r c h t e r m s
a re f o r b r a n d s . T h e spi k e i s pr e sum a bl y be c a use dur i ng
t h e h o l i d a y s e as o n w e se a r c h f o r br a nd- na m e g i f t s.
5
6
Fashion Trampled Under F oot wear
Imp re ssi ve l y, i n e v ery quart er, t he majo rit y of t he search t e r m s
(14 out of 20) are fo ot wear relat ed.
7
T he d om i nance of t he foot we ar s e ar che s al s o e x p l a i n s w h y
Zap p os r e ce i ve s 2 6 % m or e t r affi c fr om s e ar ch t h a n t h e
com p e t i t or s .
Footw e ar i s the m ost searched for cat ego ry driv ing t raffi c t o
d e p artme nt stores in general. This is t rue bo t h in paid and
organi c se arc h. A s a search cat egory , Foot wear is also t he m os t
sp e c i f i c ; i n the top 1 0 search t erms we see it ems like san d al s ,
b oots, rai n b oots, and bo at shoes, but we also see speci fi c
shoe mod e l s l i k e t he Nike Free 5 .0 or t he Adidas Superst ar .
Trac k i ng the f oot wear z eit geist , and knowing which brand s
are most p op ul ar in a part icular season, can be ext rem e l y
val uab l e f or De p ar t ment St o res as t hey plan and execut e t he i r
onl i ne mark e ti ng st rat egies. Once again, t he ho liday seas on
i s i mp ortant - i t is when fo ot wear- relat ed searches are t he
hi ghe st d ri ve rs of online t raffic t o D epart ment St ores.
The d om i nance of t he foot we ar s e ar che s al s o e x p l a i n s w h y
Zap p os r e ce i ve s 2 6 % m or e t r affi c fr om s e ar ch t h a n t h e
com p e t i t or s .
Zap p os m ay have s t ar t e d off as a s hoe -ce nt r i c b us i n e ss, bu t
i t has s i nce g r own t o b e com e a r e al onl i ne D e p ar t m e n t S t o r e .
W he n s e ar chi ng for foot we ar , whi ch i s what m os t s h o ppe r s
s e e m t o b e s e ar chi ng for , t he y p r ob ab l y g r avi t at e t o w a r ds
Zap p os for t he s i t e ’ s e x ce l l e nt vi d e os of e ve r y p ai r o f sh o e s
t he y s e l l , and for t he com p any’ s e x ce l l e nt cus t om e r se r v i c e
r e p ut at i on. Zap p os , a t r ue d i g i t al nat i ve , i s ab l e t o ca pi t a l i z e
on cons um e r s ’ vor aci ous s e ar che s for foot we ar .
F r om Q 4 2 0 1 4 t o Q 3 2 0 1 5 , t r affi c fr om s e ar ch t o t he d e p a r t m e n t
s t or e s i n t he s t ud y has r i s e n an ave r ag e of 2 . 7 % ( wi t h S a k s
e x p e r i e nci ng a d r op i n s e ar ch t r affi c) . W i t h t he r i s e of se a r c h ,
i t i s i m p or t ant t hat D e p ar t m e nt S t or e s und e r s t and con su m e r s’
s e ar ch p at t e r ns , how t he y cor r e s p ond t o t he cha n g e i n
s e as ons , and what b r and s ar e p e r for m i ng p ar t i cul ar l y w e l l i n a
g i ve n s e as on. The y al s o ne e d t o und e r s t and what t r aff i c t h e i r
com p e t i t or s ar e g e t t i ng , and how t he y can com p e t e . Ta r g e t i n g
t he r i g ht s e ar ch t e r m s wi l l m e an b e t t e r p e r for m ance i n se a r c h ,
m or e e ffe ct i ve m ar k e t i ng s p e nd , and can ul t i m at e l y t r a n sl a t e
a s ucce s s i n ot he r s our ce s of t r affi c, i n p ar t i cul ar fr om so c i a l
ne t wor k s .
Online D epartment S tores Report
Similar Web’ s
D igit al
I n s i g h t s T eam w i l l c onti nue t o
r e s e a rc h o nl i ne e -c omme rc e tr affic
b e h a v i o r, and of f e r anal ysi s t hat
reveals
a c ti onab l e
i nsi ghts
fo r
r e t a i l e rs a n d the i r mark e ti ng teams.
F o r m o re d e tai l e d i nf ormat io n,
p le a s e c o n tac t our Di gi tal Insight s
T e a m v i a p re ss@si mi l arw e b . c om.
T h e d a t a i n thi s re p ort w as c ompiled
fr o m U . S. d e sk top We b tr affic
u s i n g Si mi l arWe b PR O’s p rop ri et ary
mark e t i n g
i nte l l i ge nc e
p l atform,
in c l u d i n g
mark e t
re se arc h
and
a n a l y s i s . Si mi l arWe b d ata c omes
fr o m 4 ma i n sourc e s:
1 . A p a n e l of ove r 100 mi l l i on
mo n i t o re d d e vi c e s, c urre ntl y t he
l a rg e s t p ane l i n the i nd ustry
2 . Lo c a l i n t e rne t se rvi c e p rovi d ers
( I SP s ) l oc ate d i n many d i f f e rent
c o u n t ri e s
3 . Ou r w e b c raw l e rs that sc an ev ery
p u b l i c w e b si te to c re ate a hi ghly
a c c u ra t e map of the d i gi tal wo rld
4 . H u n d re d s of thousand s of
d i re c t me asure me nt sourc e s
f ro m w e bsi te s and ap p s that are]
c o n n e c t e d w i th us d i re c tl y