This month at the eCom Collab Club in London, the conversation centered around data, qualitative and quantitative, and how eCommerce brands can leverage both to drive growth. With insights from industry leaders at TLC Sport, Immediate Media, Kloris, Pooky Lights, and data specialists like Conjura, the event reinforced a critical truth:
eCommerce brands have access to more data than ever before, but knowing what to do with it is the real challenge.
Here’s how brands can harness the power of both qual and quant data to make better decisions, optimize campaigns, and ultimately drive revenue.
1. eCommerce Brands Love Data – But What Comes Next?
The appetite for data among eCommerce brands is massive. From performance marketing metrics to customer and market data, brands are keen to get their hands on actionable insights.
However, the challenge isn’t getting data, it’s knowing what to do with it. Brands often struggle to connect different data sources and translate insights into decisive business actions. Having access to ad performance data is great, but understanding the 'why' behind campaign performance is where the real value lies.
Key Takeaways for eCommerce Brands:
- Context is everything: Looking at performance marketing data in isolation can be misleading. Consider layering in market trends, competitor activity, and customer behavior data to get a fuller picture.
- Behavioral insights matter: Understanding why customers engage (or don’t) can inform messaging, creative strategies, and product positioning.
- Data should drive action: Collecting data is only useful if it leads to strategic improvements in marketing, inventory planning, or pricing strategies.
At Finch, we use our proprietary tech platform, Volare, to help brands connect campaign data with broader insights, allowing them to make smarter media investment decisions based on real-time performance and wider market dynamics.
2. Trust in Data & The Need for Consistency
One of the biggest challenges eCommerce brands face isn’t the lack of data, but trusting the data they have. Many brands are comfortable using historical data to inform future predictions, but spotting anomalies and acting on them in real time is a missing piece of the puzzle without human intervention.
Data trust also comes down to consistency. While every eCommerce business tracks slightly different metrics, what matters most is consistently tracking the right metrics over time. This ensures a reliable framework for decision-making.
How to Strengthen Trust in Your Data:
- Standardize your KPIs: Whether you track CPA, ROAS, MER, or conversion rates, consistency in tracking is key.
- Look beyond ‘safe’ data: Many brands rely on historical trends, but real-time data analysis (such as campaign performance shifts and consumer behavior changes) can unlock new opportunities.
- Data should inform more than ads: Brands are increasingly using advertising data to make inventory and supply chain decisions, ensuring stock levels match predicted demand.
Brands that integrate marketing performance data into broader business decisions will always have a competitive advantage.
eCom Collab Club panel
3. Qual First, Then Quant: The Power of the ‘Story of One’
One of the most interesting discussions at the event was the importance of qualitative data in shaping business decisions. Many brands on the panel emphasized that before diving into numbers, they start with customer stories to spark ideas that are later validated by quantitative analysis.
Brands managing qual insights through simple spreadsheets still find immense value especially when informing messaging and product development – but imagine if you systemized your qualitative data with the same love as your quant.
For example:
- Kloris (a CBD wellness brand) conducts direct phone interviews with customers to understand their pain points and needs.
- They also use on-site quizzes (via tools like Octane AI) to gather user preferences and personalize shopping experiences.
Why This Matters for eCommerce:
- The ‘Story of One’ can spark big ideas: A single customer insight can highlight a broader market trend worth investigating further.
- Combine qual and quant for deeper impact: Qualitative feedback can guide A/B testing, refine segmentation, and improve ad creative.
- Qual doesn’t need to be complicated: Simple tools like post-purchase surveys, chat transcripts, and customer interviews can provide valuable insights.
At Finch, we believe in layering qualitative insights with performance and programmatic data to uncover meaningful patterns that improve brand positioning and campaign effectiveness (especially with top of funnel campaigns).
4. Competitive Insights: Data as an Advantage
Many brands at the event emphasized the importance of competitor research. Brands that conduct annual (or more frequent) competitor audits use those insights to influence everything from inventory planning to marketing and pricing strategies.
How Brands Can Use Competitive Data Effectively:
- Leverage keyword research: Tracking competitor activity in search (Google, Amazon, marketplaces) can reveal new product opportunities.
- Monitor ad trends: Watching how competitors allocate budgets across Meta, Google, TikTok, and programmatic ads can highlight gaps and opportunities.
- Use competitive intelligence to refine strategy: Brands that react quickly to competitor shifts (for example, a major brand increasing discounts, launching a new line, or shifting ad spend) can stay ahead of market trends.
Tools like Volare can help brands and their agencies contextualize ad performance by incorporating competitor or market insights allowing for more strategic media spend and campaign planning.
5. Knowing What to Track: Metrics That Matter
One of the most debated topics was which metrics eCommerce brands should prioritize. Immediate Media (owners of legacy titles like Radio Times and Good Food Magazines) currently focus on ROAS and CPA, but their marketing director is pushing for a more blended approach to tracking success.
The reality? Every brand tracks something slightly different, but the consensus is that consistency in measurement is more important than the specific metrics tracked.
Best Practices for Defining Your eCommerce Metrics:
- Align tracking with business goals: A brand focused on scaling should track MER, CAC, and LTV, whereas an established brand optimizing efficiency might focus on MMM, ROAS and margin-based KPIs.
- Educate internally on new metrics: Not all stakeholders may understand the value of blended attribution models or MER vs. ROAS comparisons.
- Use tech to simplify metric tracking: Platforms like Volare help eCommerce brands and agencies tell the story of their data and centralize goal-setting and performance tracking, providing a clearer picture of what success looks like.
Final Thoughts: The Next Steps for Data-Driven eCommerce Growth
The biggest takeaway? Data is only useful when it leads to action.
- Look beyond standard performance marketing metrics, layer in behavioral insights and wider market trends where possible.
- Don’t rely solely on historical data, real-time anomalies and qualitative insights can reveal powerful opportunities.
- Define clear, consistent tracking methods, ensure that every metric you monitor serves your broader business objectives.
At Finch, we work with eCommerce brands to connect their data dots, optimize performance marketing, and turn insights into real business impact. Through tools like Volare, brands can get a clearer picture of performance, improve budget allocation, and make more informed strategic digital marketing decisions.
