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dComm Index™ Methodology

The WARC dComm™ Index is a unique new dataset designed to help marketers and ecommerce teams get a topline view of how they are performing versus the competition on digital commerce platforms.

The core constituents of our Index are what goes into making an effective “digital shelf”; Selection, Content, Organic Search, Paid Search and Price.

Performance across these “dimensions” is an aggregation of a series of KPIs, which vary by platform and are listed below.

The general principles are:

  • All scores are out of 100, with 100 being the maximum value achieved for a given metric inside a category. So a brand being best performer across all metrics would get a total Index score of 100
  • This means all scores are relative to a category, as brands are scored relatively to that top performer with 100, by metric

Disclaimer: This report is based on publicly available data from Walmart.com and Amazon.com findings are based on a large but limited set of keywords and products and should not be taken to be a comprehensive view of activity on the site.

What goes into the WARC dComm Index™ – Amazon

Selection & Buy Box

Weighting: 30%

Selection
Number of ASINs returned per brand
Average price spread
Range of average buy box price
Product availability
Instock rate - different points depending on the value
Best seller flags
Share of ASINs with best seller flags
Buy box ownership
% time of ownership of buy box
Suppressed buy box
% suppressed buy box

Organic Search

Weighting: 20%

Share of organic search
Share of page 1 organic results
Variability of organic search
Variance of share of page 1 organic results
Average rank of top SKU
Average rank of top brand result for top category term
Consistency of top rank
Share of time spent on page 1 results (or Top 3 results using Amazon "share of click")

Price & Economics

Weighting: 20%

Brand value
Average buy box price
Coupons breadth
Branded search, % of SKUs with coupon
Coupons depth
Branded search, average % reduction

Paid Search

Weighting: 15%

Total share of paid search
Share of page 1 paid placements for top category term (SP ATF, SP BTF, SP MTF, SB) # of placements will vary by term
Sponsored brand SOV (SB SOV)
Share of page 1 SB placements for top category term
Sponsored product SOV (SP SOV)
Share of page 1 SP placements for top category term

Content

Weighting: 15%

Images
Number of images on PDP
Link to brand store
Share of ASINs that link to a brand store
Reviews
Average number of ratings and reviews score
Use of rich media
% enhanced media existence in SKUs
Climate change friendly badge
Share of ASINs with climate change friendly badge

Methodology

The WARC dComm Index™ for Amazon is based on hourly SOV and PDP data. It typically considers a selection of 100-250 of the most searched keywords in each product category covered.

For each metric, the top brand within a category gets an Index score of 100. All other brands are scored proportionally based on (relative) performance – if the brand with the largest share of organic first page placements owns 30%, a competitor with 15% would get a score of 50 for that metric.

How to interpret the scores
Winning (70+)
Amazon presence has been strategically planned to grow the brand and often partnering with Amazon to grow the category. The brand knows the power of the channel and understands how to maximize performance across virtually every KPI.
Leading (69-60)
Solid performer on Amazon but lack the focus and resources to rise to the top tier. Solid, but not always stellar performance in content and search; typically very engaged with retail media. Likely looking to win across share of search and share of voice.
Average (59-50)
Treats Amazon as one of many channels, but lacks the resources and expertise to make it a priority over other, often omni-channel, retailers. The upside, however, is there is typically an abundance of ‘low hanging fruit’ should these brands choose to more thoroughly engage.
Lagging (49-40)
Limited or inconsistent approach to the opportunity Amazon represents. Major success on the platform is largely aspirational.
Struggling(<40)
Winning on Amazon is not seen as available relevant due to resource constraints. Priority is on maintaining the volumes at traditional brick and mortar outlets, despite it being a low/no growth opportunity.
What goes into the WARC dComm Index™ – Walmart

Selection & Buy Box

Weighting: 30%

Selection
Number of SKUs per brand
Average price spread
Range of average buy box price
Store availability - pick-up
% SKUs available for pick-up today
Ship-to-home availability
% SKUs available to be shipped to home
Product availability - in-stock rate
% SKUs labeled 'in store'
Buy box ownership
% ownership of buy box

Organic Search

Weighting: 20%

Share of organic search
Share of page 1 organic results
Variability of organic search
Standard deviation of share of page 1 organic results
Average rank of top SKU
Average rank of top brand result for top category term
Consistency of top rank
Variance of average rank of top SKU over time

Price & Economics

Weighting: 15%

Brand value
Average buy box price

Paid Search

Weighting: 15%

Total share of paid search
Share of page 1 paid placements for top category term (SP ATF, SP BTF, SP MTF, SP TOP, Brand Amplifier) # of placements will vary by term
Share of brand amplifier
Variability of brand amplifier (who is winning that slot and consistency of a brand owning it)
Conquesting
Share of paid placement for top branded terms (all paid placement types)

Content

Weighting: 20%

Images
Number of images on PDP
Reviews
Average number of ratings and reviews score
Product description
Between 80 and 100 words for the description as benchmark. +20% is ok but should not be too long or too short. % ASINs with the right word count.
Specs/brand name
If Brand is specified against features, does it appear in the product title (if not your content quality score goes down, and the algo penalises you). % SKUs with brand name in product title if present in "features"

Methodology

The WARC dComm IndexTM for Walmart is based on hourly SOV and PDP data. It typically considers a selection of 100-250 of the most searched keywords in each product category covered.

For each metric, the top brand within a category gets an Index score of 100. All other brands are scored proportionally based on (relative) performance – if the brand with the largest share of organic first page placements owns 30%, a competitor with 15% would get a score of 50 for that metric.

How to interpret the scores
Winning (70+)
Walmart.com presence has been strategically planned to grow the brand, which often means partnering with Walmart to grow the category. The brand knows the power of the channel and understands how to maximize performance across virtually every KPI.
Leading (69-60)
Solid performer on Walmart. com but lacks the focus and resources to rise to the top tier. Solid, but not always stellar performance in content and search; typically very engaged with retail media. Likely looking to win across share of search and share of voice.
Average (59-50)
Treats Walmart.com as a priority omni-channel account but lacks the resources and expertise to dominate the space. There is typically an abundance of ‘low hanging fruit’ should these brands choose to more thoroughly engage.
Lagging (49-40)
Limited or inconsistent approach to the opportunity Walmart.com represents. Focus is on making sure offline brand loyals can find their products online. Major success on the platform is largely aspirational.
Struggling(<40)
Winning on Walmart.com is not seen as possible due to resource constraints. Priority is on maintaining the volumes at traditional brick and mortar outlets, despite it being a low/no growth opportunity.