Here’s what best-in-class Canadian retailer Reitmans (Canada) Limited learned by measuring store visits, and the successes that resulted from using those insights to optimize its campaigns.

Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. realizes the full value of its online shoppers

Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. (RCL), a long-standing clothing retailer that operates six of the most recognized brands in Canada—Reitmans, RW&CO., Penningtons, Addition Elle, Thyme Maternity, and Hyba—hosts five e-commerce sites along with 667 physical locations. Paid search is a key driver of ROI in the company’s digital marketing mix. However, without a way to connect the dots between its customers’ online searches and in-store visits, RCL was focusing on campaigns driving the highest online sales, regardless of the offline impact.

The retailer decided to take a closer look at what was driving customers to its store locations. Measuring store visits revealed two things:

1) Foot traffic driven by paid search was much higher than the company previously assumed.
2) Some campaigns with relatively low online return on ad spend were driving a significant number of store visits.

After realizing certain campaigns were being undervalued by ignoring their omnichannel returns, the team shifted its focus and optimized toward campaigns with more impact on in-store traffic, even if they weren’t leading to as many online sales. The results? In 2016, RCL ad clicks led to more than 250K store visits, with 55% coming from mobile. The retailer also acquired more than 12K new in-store customers from these tactics, showcasing the value of paid search for reaching a wider audience.