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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, Amazon.com, Instacart.com, and Target.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

Weighting: 30%

Selection
Number of ASINs per brand
Average Price Spread
Variance of average buy box price
Availability
In-stock rate
Prime Flag
Share of ASINs with a Prime flag
Buy Box Ownership
% time of ownership of buy box
Suppressed Buy Box
% suppressed buy box
Corrupt Variations
% products with a corrupt variation

Organic Search

Weighting: 20%

Weighted Organic SOV
Share of page one organic results (weighted by keyword volume and rank)
Variability of Organic SOV
Variance of share of page one organic results over time
Average Rank of Top ASIN
Average rank of top brand result
Consistency of Top Rank
Variance of average rank of top brand result over time

Price

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%

Weighted Paid SOV
Share of page one paid placements (weighted by keyword volume and rank)
Sponsored Brand SOV
Share of page one Sponsored Brand placements
Sponsored Product SOV
Share of page one Sponsored Product placements

Content

Weighting: 15%

Images
Number of images on PDP
Link to Brand Store
Share of ASINs that link to a brand store
Reviews
Number of global ratings and average number of stars
Use of Rich Media
Share of ASINs with A+ content
Editorial Recommendations
Share of ASINs in editorial recommendations
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™ – Instacart

Selection

Weighting: 30%

Distribution
Number of stores (defined as a retailer in a zip code) that return results on brand query
Availability
Average in-stock rate across a brand’s product range
Selection
Number of SKUs per brand

Organic Search

Weighting: 25%

Share of Organic Search
Percentage share of first page organic placements for unbranded keyword selection
Variability of Organic Search
Observed share of organic search variance across retailers
Average Rank of Top SKU
Average rank of top brand result for unbranded keyword selection
Variability of Top Rank
Observed variance in terms of average top rank across retailers

Price

Weighting: 20%

Brand Value
Average selling price
Retailer Pricing Variability
Average selling price variance across retailers

Paid Search

Weighting: 15%

Top SOV
Percentage share of first page paid placements for unbranded keyword selection
Conquesting
Percentage share of first page paid placements for branded search terms
Category Placements
Percentage share of paid placements on the browse/category page relevant to a given brand

Content

Weighting: 10%

Number of Images
Average number of images by SKU on product detail page
Product Information Availability
Percentage of SKUs with full detail available on product description, ingredients, directions, warnings, nutrition and allergens

Methodology

The WARC dComm Index is based on daily search (SOV) and product detail pages (PDP) of retailers on Instacart. It considers a selection of c.500 of the most searched unbranded keywords, and c.200 branded keywords corresponding to the names of the largest brands in our major categories. To paint a representative picture of the market, we have selected six highly populated zip codes covering the US territory from East to West, and in each zip a selection of 5 stores which includes a combination of Target, Costco, Safeway, Wegman's, Sam's Club, Sprouts, BJ's Wholesale Club, H Mart, H.-E-B and King Soopers.

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

How to interpret the scores
Winning (75+)
Instacart presence has been thought through. The brand knows the power of the channel and aims to maximise performance on the channel, across mental, physical and digital availability.
Leading (74-70)
Ahead in terms of experimenting with Instacart and more generally with retail media. Likely looking to win across share of search and share of voice.
Average (69-60)
Instacart is seen as one of many channels, no different to distribution in Safeway. Instacart presence is largely left to retail partners – but there is a large upside if they choose to engage.
Lagging (59-55)
Limited or inconsistent approach to new delivery partners – this is seen as a future ambition.
Struggling(<54)
Instacart is not seen as relevant. Category plans are still focused on traditional retail.
What goes into the WARC dComm Index™ – Walmart

Selection

Weighting: 30%

Selection
Number of SKUs per brand
Average Price Spread
Share of SKUs with pick-up today
Same-day Pick-Up Availability
Variance of average buy box price
Ship-to-Home Availability
Share of SKUs available to be shipped to home
Best Seller Flags
Share of SKUs with best seller flags
Buy Box Ownership
% ownership of buy box

Organic Search

Weighting: 20%

Weighted Organic SOV
Share of page one organic results (weighted by keyword volume and rank)
Variability of Organic SOV
Variance of share of page one organic SOV over time
Average Rank of Top SKU
Average rank of top brand result
Consistency of Top Rank
Variance of average rank of top brand result over time

Price

Weighting: 15%

Brand Value
Average buy box price
Coupons Breadth
Branded search, % of SKUs with coupon

Paid Search

Weighting: 15%

Weighted Paid SOV
Share of page one paid placements, all top terms (weighted by keyword volume and rank)
Unbranded, Weighted Paid SOV
Share of page one paid placements (weighted by keyword volume and rank) – unbranded terms only
Share of Brand Amplifier
Share of brand amplifier placements

Content

Weighting: 20%

Images
Number of images on PDP
Ratings & Reviews
Number of global ratings and average number of stars
Product Title Character Count
Share of SKUs with 40-120 characters in description
Title and Brand Name
Share of SKUs with brand name appearing in product title

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.