4 Ways to sell more on the digital shelf
January 1, 2026Selling more on the digital shelf depends on consistent product data, accurate visuals, reliable availability, and early performance signals across every channel shoppers use. See how teams use Digital Shelf Analytics to improve visibility, availability, and returns.
According to Merkle, 70% of consumers purchase across three or more digital channels each month, spanning online marketplaces, multi-brand retailers, brand sites, brand stores, search and social, and second-hand platforms. Shoppers compare products across those touchpoints as part of a single buying decision.
That behavior increases the importance of product information. Research shows that 77% of consumers rely on product information to decide what to buy, and 62% are willing to pay more when details are clear and complete. Gaps or inconsistencies become visible quickly once shoppers move between channels.
You’re managing product experiences in that environment. Your digital shelf for e-commerce extends across every place your products appear, and it depends on accurate information, consistent visuals, current pricing, and reliable availability. Maintaining that level of consistency requires the same discipline you apply to physical retail, supported by digital shelf analytics solutions that provide visibility into the digital shelf metrics that shape how your products perform.
This article breaks down four practical ways you can strengthen your digital shelf, each focused on measurable behaviors and actions your team can apply to improve execution and performance.
1. Get product information right
You lose potential buyers when product pages fail to answer basic questions. DHL’s 2025 e-commerce trends report shows that 42% of shoppers abandon their purchase when key information is missing, and 36% walk away when visuals don’t help them understand what they’re buying. Product information sets expectations early, and gaps here tend to show up quickly in lower engagement and higher return rates.
Trust plays an immediate role, too. Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer report shows that trust ranks alongside price and quality as a deciding factor in whether people buy from a brand at all. Buyers expect brands to provide accurate, reliable information that helps them make confident decisions, and hesitation builds when descriptions feel unclear or incomplete.
Most product information issues fall into a few repeatable patterns that teams can fix with consistent rules.
Product information: Dos and don’ts
| Area | Don’t | Do |
|---|---|---|
| Titles | Change naming formats across retailers | Use a consistent structure for names, variants, and model details |
| Attributes | Leave gaps or mismatches with retailer filters | Map attributes to the filters shoppers actually use |
| Specs & sizing | Mix units or leave measurements incomplete | Apply one standard format across all listings |
| Descriptions | Lead with marketing language | Answer practical questions about fit, materials, care, and use |
Keeping your product information aligned across channels reduces the inconsistencies you later uncover through digital shelf monitoring and helps your listings perform more reliably wherever shoppers encounter them.
2. Standardize product visuals
Many shoppers decide whether to continue engaging with a product page based solely on the images. DHL’s research shows that 36% of shoppers want clearer product images to feel confident in what they’re buying, and 39% return items because the products they receive don’t match the photos. Visual inconsistency creates gaps between expectation and reality that written descriptions rarely fix on their own.
Customer-provided visuals add another layer of reassurance. DHL reports that 63% of Gen Z and 60% of Millennials trust reviews more when photos or videos are included. Buyers use those visuals to confirm size, condition, and real-world appearance, especially for products where fit, materials, or finish influence the decision.
Product visuals: Dos and don’ts
| Area | Don’t | Do |
|---|---|---|
| Image accuracy | Keep outdated photos after packaging or color changes | Update images whenever product details change |
| Detail clarity | Rely on wide shots alone | Add close-ups of materials, textures, and key features |
| Scale context | Show products without size reference | Include in-use or lifestyle images to show proportion |
| Social proof | Use only brand-generated images | Incorporate customer photos or videos where possible |
| Cross-channel consistency | Allow different image sets per retailer | Maintain one approved image set across channels |
Standardized visuals help you control how products are perceived across retailers, reduce mismatched expectations, and support digital shelf analytics for product returns by exposing where visual gaps lead to avoidable returns.
3. Maintain digital shelf availability
Product visibility drops quickly once availability issues go unnoticed, and brands often react only after sales decline. Market data shows how closely availability is tied to ongoing oversight, with real-time tracking accounting for 60% of the growth driving digital shelf analytics adoption.
Growth in e-commerce sales has increased the number of retailers, feeds, and listings your team needs to keep aligned. As global e-commerce sales rose by 16% in recent years, so did the risk of outdated pricing, inactive SKUs, and listing errors slipping through unnoticed. Many teams now rely on structured digital shelf management to consistently monitor availability signals, rather than uncovering issues after performance starts to decline.
Digital shelf availability: Dos and don’ts
| Area | Don’t | Do |
|---|---|---|
| Stock signals | Assume inventory syncs correctly everywhere | Confirm stock status across channels |
| Pricing | Leave pricing changes unchecked | Keep prices aligned with each retailer |
| Listing status | Ignore unavailable or inactive listings | Review listing health regularly |
| Buy box access | Investigate only after sales drop | Track buy box and search position changes |
| Channel focus | Treat all retailers the same | Prioritize high-volume channels with digital shelf solutions |
Maintaining availability comes down to consistency on the digital shelf, supported by regular checks that keep products purchasable across channels.
4. Track digital shelf performance early
E-commerce now accounts for nearly 14% of total retail sales, which raises the stakes for how your products compete once they appear online. Changes in performance surface first in search placement, review patterns, and price comparisons, rather than in inventory or listing status. Digital shelf analytics data shows that real-time monitoring has improved product listing accuracy by around 30%, helping teams refine how products compete and supporting closer, ongoing digital shelf optimization where buying decisions are made.
Early performance tracking focuses less on tools and more on signals. Ranking movement, review sentiment, and category-level behavior reveal how shoppers respond as conditions change across retailers. Teams using digital shelf monitoring follow digital shelf metrics to understand where visibility begins to decline, where comparisons favor competing products, and where product content or pricing no longer supports conversion.
Performance tracking: Dos and don’ts
| Area | Don’t | Do |
|---|---|---|
| Search visibility | Rely only on traffic reports | Review ranking patterns across retailers |
| Competitive movement | Notice competitors after share drops | Watch new listings and price adjustments |
| Reviews | Miss changes in rating trends | Track sentiment themes over time |
| Content relevance | Leave product data untouched | Refresh details shoppers compare |
| Category behavior | Assume categories behave the same | Follow changes in attributes and search demand |
Tracking performance at this level gives you a clearer view of how your products compete day to day. Teams using digital shelf analytics software rely on these signals to adjust pricing, content, or promotion timing, while those changes can still influence buying decisions.
Manage your digital shelf with intent
Across every section, one pattern stands out. Your digital shelf performs best when your team can see what’s happening, understand why, and act consistently across channels. Execution improves when visibility replaces guesswork and decisions follow clear signals instead of late reports.
If you want to go deeper, Inriver’s guide to Digital Shelf Analytics shows how your team can use data to monitor performance, prioritize fixes, and improve execution across channels.
The next question is simple. How confident are you that your digital shelf is working as hard as it should, everywhere your products appear?
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Author
Erika Goldwater, CIPP
Director of Global Communications
Erika Goldwater is the director of global communications for Inriver. An industry veteran, Erika lives and breathes B2B marketing, content, public relations, and data privacy. She's a Boston marketer who hails from Baltimore.
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