The CDC estimates there will be 27-54 million flu-related illnesses in the US between October 2023 and April 2024. As households across the nation prep their medicine cabinets for the impending wave of colds and flu, Over-the-Counter Medicine brands should closely examine how and where shoppers are shopping.
MikMak analyzed the latest insights and trends your brand should know to prepare for cold and flu season and found that brand websites presented a unique opportunity for success this year.
Brand websites drive the most Purchase Intent for Over-the-Counter Medicine and Vitamin brands
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When looking at recent data, the MikMak Shopping Index revealed that brand websites enabled with MikMak drove the highest Purchase Intent Rates for Over-the-Counter Medicine and Vitamin brands., boasting a rate of 44.1 percent. Coming in second was email marketing, with a Purchase Intent Rate of 31.2 percent. Social platforms, with Meta channels leading the way, secured the third spot at 13.2 percent, while other media and display ads trailed slightly behind at 12.7 percent.
For brands seeking a direct connection with shoppers, ensuring a seamless, multi-retailer checkout on your website is crucial. It not only enhances product discoverability when consumers are researching but also capitalizes on their readiness to purchase.
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A prominent Over-the-Counter medication brand exemplified this approach by integrating MikMak into their brand website. The outcome was remarkable: a 50x increase in attributable sales, a 24.3 percent share in Purchase Intent Clicks on the enabled product page, and a Purchase Intent Rate 5x higher than the category average for brand websites of similar products.
Meanwhile, Vitamin brand, Olly also used MikMak on their brand website to protect market share. When products were out of stock on Olly’s website, shoppers could elect to fill out a form located on the product detail page (PDP) that would alert them to inventory updates for when the product was back in stock. Olly integrated MikMak Commerce Discover onto their website, allowing them to facilitate the sale of out-of-stock products on their website through third-party retailers.
When shoppers come across an out-of-stock product, instead of an “add to cart” button they also see a “where to buy” button that shows online and in-store purchase options based on the shopper’s geolocation. This also allows Olly to capture first-party data on the shoppers interacting with out-of-stock products, providing Olly with valuable insights into the performance of enabling sales on out-of-stock items and the shopping preferences of their consumers.
In addition to your brand website, make all your media shoppable this cold & flu season
Ricola leveraged MikMak to quickly launch shoppable influencer campaigns across Instagram and TikTok to connect consumers to their products during the key cold and flu season. This resulted in a 2.8x higher Purchase Intent Rate on TikTok compared to the average in the Health & Wellness category, and a 1.6x higher Purchase Intent Rate by their top-performing influencer, compared to the brand’s average.
Further, the analytics available through the MikMak Insights Dashboard allow Ricola to view performance not only at the platform level but also get granular enough to understand the performance of each individual influencer handle. Ricola can now use these insights to optimize future campaigns to the platforms and influencers driving the highest Purchase Intent.
Find out more about how your brand can optimize its advertising and access data like this during cold & flu season, with even more specific insights in our recent eBook, What Over-the-Counter Medicine Brands Need to Know This Cold & Flu Season.
