Overview
Located in the Peak District National Park, Chatsworth is home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. A stately home with a 105-acre garden, the estate offers an array of activities for visitors.
The gift shops and estate farm shop stock a range of locally sourced produce alongside gifts and souvenirs, which were already popular with both locals and visitors to the estate. The need to take this offering online was part of a larger Christmas push at the tail-end of 2019.
With the unforeseeable Covid-19 pandemic resulting in the house being closed to visitors for much of 2020 and into 2021, Chatsworth was fast to adapt their e-commerce process to engage with customers online.
Chatsworth is a historic and extremely well-known organisation. Many visitors to the estate would also spend time exploring the gift shops and local farm shop during their visit, and are therefore already aware of many of the products that Chatsworth offers. However, with the house being closed, the key challenge lay in raising awareness and showcasing the products to new audiences, introducing potential new customers to the product range and encouraging them to shop online.
Having worked together for over eight years on promoting the house and grounds as a must-see attraction, we had the benefit of being very familiar with the brand and products for the e-commerce campaigns.
Strategy
The online store offers a variety of items, from locally produced food and beverages to hampers, homeware and jewellery, with many items paying homage to the history of the house and estate.
Our core focus was to reach users who were outside of the local area, whilst still maintaining a positive ROAS. Before launching the campaigns, we added brand related keywords as negatives. This allowed us to ensure we were only reaching users that were not searching for Chatsworth-specific products.
We focused on promoting products that would yield a high return on ad spend, based on a high average order value with low cost per clicks. Hampers were a key focus throughout the duration due to the high value, though in the run up to Christmas these understandably fell into a more crowded and competitive marketplace.
We therefore introduced a wider range of items, maintaining a selective focus on high ticket items. These were more likely to result in a sale due to being more niche and therefore less competitive.
Results
While our goal was to increase sales amongst a wider audience, we also maintained a positive ROAS, as well as driving new visitors and increased revenue via the website. Comparing Q4 2020 to Q4 2019:
- New users to the retail website were up 190%, with new visitor revenue up 360%
- Specifically from paid channels, new users to the website were up 1599% with revenue up 1028%
- Website sessions specifically from London were up 205%, while online revenue from London was up 370%
- ROAS from paid channels was 180%, while ROAS from assisted conversion value was 270%
Digital Clarity & Chatsworth continue to work together to promote new products online, as well as promoting Chatsworth as a fun-filled day out, with something for all the family.
Testimonial
“We have worked with Digital Clarity for eight years and in that time I have known the team to be responsive, understanding and achieve great results.
Digital Clarity work with us across a variety of digital platforms including paid search, and more recently they developed an effective shopping strategy alongside our marketing team, helping us reach new audiences and drive sales resulting in a positive ROAS.”
Giselle Marino – Digital Marketing Manager
Your end result begins with how you start
Main image: Chatsworth House Trust, Simon Broadhead