The Digital Shelf Begins Before the Search Bar

Retail marketers are rethinking what constitutes the digital shelf. Rather than beginning on retailer product pages or search results, the customer journey often starts earlier through social media, streaming platforms, digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, and other discovery channels.

Elizabeth Brooks, SVP of client experience at Brkthru, said retailers should broaden how they define the digital shelf because consumers often begin forming brand preferences well before they actively search for a product.

Many retailers still define the digital shelf primarily as the search engine results page (SERP) or the product detail page (PDP). As a result, much of their marketing investment remains concentrated on lower-funnel tactics such as paid search and affiliate marketing.

Retailers are seeing diminishing returns as acquisition costs rise, competition for high-intent keywords intensifies, and conversion efficiency becomes harder to maintain. By the time many consumers begin comparing brands, their preferences may already be taking shape, yet much of retailers' marketing investment remains focused on the final stages of the buying process.

"By the time they hit a search engine, they are looking for a brand and are well beyond categories," Brooks told the E-Commerce Times.

Escaping the Lower-Funnel Trap

Traditional e-commerce marketing has focused heavily on lower-funnel tactics such as paid search and affiliate marketing, where consumers already demonstrate purchase intent.

The expectation has been straightforward: invest where buying intent is strongest, and conversions will follow. That approach is becoming less effective as acquisition costs rise, competition for the same keywords intensifies, and conversion efficiency becomes harder to sustain.

Brands that focus primarily on capturing existing demand may miss opportunities to influence shoppers earlier in the buying journey, potentially increasing customer acquisition costs.

Investing earlier in discovery channels can shape how consumers search, evaluate, and ultimately purchase products. Brooks said brands that build awareness through social media, streaming, and DOOH often see stronger branded search activity, higher conversion rates, and more qualified site traffic later in the buying process.

The E-Commerce Times spoke with Brooks about how consumer discovery is changing retail marketing and what brands should measure as shoppers encounter products before they search.

E-Commerce Times: How does Brkthru define today's digital shelf?

Elizabeth Brooks: The digital shelf used to be where the transaction happened: the PDP, the search results page, or the retailer listing. Those are still incredibly important, but they’re no longer the beginning of the shopping journey.

Brkthru thinks of the digital shelf as every touchpoint where consumers form preferences, not just where they make a purchase. That could be a TikTok video, a connected TV ad, a creator review, a DOOH screen near a store, a streaming audio spot, or even an AI-generated answer. By the time a shopper lands on a retailer’s site, they may already have a short list in their head.

How should brands respond as discovery shifts to streaming platforms and social media?

Brooks: So the question for brands isn’t just, “Are we showing up on the PDP?” It’s “Are we showing up early enough to shape what the consumer looks for when they get there?”

That’s the real shelf shift. The shelf isn’t just a destination anymore. It’s the memory, preference, and intent we build before the consumer ever types a search query.

Why can relying too heavily on lower-funnel tactics become a costly strategy?

Brooks: I’m a big believer in search and affiliate when they’re used in the right role. The issue is when brands expect those channels to do all the work.

Paid search is excellent at capturing demand. An affiliate can be very effective at closing demand. But neither is naturally designed to create demand at scale.

When a brand hasn’t invested in discovery, it often ends up paying a premium to compete for the same generic, high-intent shopper everyone else wants. That’s where it becomes a tax. You’re paying more to intercept a consumer at the very end of the journey because you didn’t influence them earlier.

Does greater discovery spending lead to more branded searches?

Brooks: Yes, and that’s one of the most interesting signals to watch. When discovery media is working, you typically start to see a healthier search profile.

Consumers move from broad, category-based searches like “best running shoes” or “natural skincare” toward more specific branded searches. That shift matters because branded search typically signals familiarity, preference, and stronger intent.

Social and DOOH do this in different but complementary ways. Social provides consumers with context, storytelling, reviews, and repetition. DOOH gives the brand physical presence and local relevance.

Together, they make the brand easier to remember when the consumer later searches.

What metrics best indicate that this strategy is working?

Brooks: We look for signals such as branded search lift, changes in the branded-versus-non-branded query mix, direct traffic, on-site retailer search behavior, add-to-cart rate, and conversion rate from branded terms. The goal isn’t to eliminate non-branded search.

Non-branded search still has a role. The goal is to reduce overdependence on expensive generic intent by creating more owned, branded intent.

How does discovery media affect traditional site metrics like bounce rate and time on site?

Brooks: Pre-sold consumers behave differently. They’re not wandering. They’re validating. That can improve traditional metrics like bounce rate because shoppers have more confidence when they arrive. They recognize the brand, understand the value proposition, and are more likely to engage with the product page or progress further along the purchase path.

Time-on-site is a little more nuanced. Sometimes, a pre-sold shopper spends more time exploring reviews, variants, bundles, or related products. Sometimes they spend less time because they came in with a clear decision and convert quickly. So I’d caution brands not to read shorter sessions as a negative by default.

What other metrics should brands consider?

Brooks: They should ponder better questions. Did discovery media reduce friction? Did it increase product page engagement, add-to-cart rate, checkout starts, conversion rate, or repeat visits? Those are the metrics that tell us whether the consumer arrived with intent already formed.

How does DOOH support the digital shelf, and how do you measure its impact?

Brooks: DOOH is absolutely an awareness channel, but it’s not only an awareness channel anymore. DOOH is powerful because it creates brand presence in the real world, often close to moments of need.

A consumer may see a message while commuting, shopping, walking through a downtown area, or moving through a trade area near a retailer. That exposure can later show up as branded search, direct traffic, store visits, product page engagement, or purchase activity.

What role does measurement play?

Brooks: We can look at exposed versus unexposed audiences, geo-based lift, website visitation, app activity, retailer search trends, foot traffic, and sales where data is available. So, for me, DOOH isn’t just a billboard. It’s a memory trigger. It helps the brand feel present, familiar, and nearby, and that can directly influence how a consumer behaves when they encounter the digital shelf later.

For example, the living room has become a discovery environment again, but with much better targeting and measurement than traditional TV ever had. Ad-supported streaming enables retailers to tell a richer story with sight, sound, and motion while still reaching audiences with greater precision.

The missing link is attribution. Too many brands still evaluate streaming as if the only valuable action is an immediate click, and that’s just not how people behave. The view may occur on TV, the research may occur on mobile, and the purchase may occur later through a retailer app or marketplace.

How should retailers adjust their marketing strategies?

Brooks: To connect those dots, retailers need to look at household-level exposure, search lift, site lift, app activity, incrementality, and branded demand. The opportunity is to treat streaming not as a disconnected awareness buy, but as a demand-creation channel that can influence what happens in the mobile cart.

Also, retailers should reallocate capital based on the marginal return of each dollar. If non-branded search or affiliate is plateauing, shift some of that spend to discovery channels with clear measurement in place. This doesn’t mean taking money away from performance. It means funding the inputs that make performance perform better.